[Trish Kinsella] Samara O’Shea practices what she preaches. She runs a letter-writing business at letterlover.net where she helps those at an acute loss for words to express themselves letter perfectly with pen and paper. She has also published two books on the subject, For the Love of Letters and Note to Self. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending her salonesque workshop at Terrain.
I had bought For the Love of Letters last Fall as a gift for a friend. I wound up being so captivated and entertained by Ms. O’Shea’s style that I kept it for myself. A multitude of inspiring passages and colorful stories from her own life experience and ensuing correspondence make it a memorable book – her lively exchange of letters with James Joyce’s grandson is reason enough on its own. And the book is indeed a good reference when a sticky letter-writing situation arises. More recently, Samara’s second book has made its way onto my shelves.
The workshop was held in an inspiring setting: the landscape design office at Terrain, in a restored stone Colonial home dating back to the 1800s. Samara spoke about various aspects of correspondence – handwriting, paper, and postage stamps – both in her own words and in those of history’s great writers. Her many reasons for writing include: communicating; preserving our illustrious yet shrinking language; documenting our own personal legacy for subsequent generations so they may discover us when we are gone; and, last but not least, therapy. Letter-writing often involves a level of contemplation and mindfulness that is lacking in so many of our lives today. Samara has a knack for citing a love letter from Simone de Beauvoir to remind us of the timelessness of eloquence and emotion poured out on paper. Samara’s message is clear: The written word is too precious to lose. Twitter and text away if you must, but don’t abandon your pen and paper. Language is a terrible thing to waste {or worse, ignore}.
Samara analyzed letter-writing in three main categories: cover letters, correspondence, and thank-you notes, and detailed what to include {and not include!} in each. She also recommended a brilliant New York Times article to dissuade any job-seeker from sending a “naked” résumé. {No, the two-sentence e-mail to which your résumé is attached does not qualify as a cover letter.} And if you don’t feel up to writing it yourself, Samara is literally and literately there for you.
Workshop photo: Terrain Other photos: Samara O’Shea
Trish Kinsella, proprietress of Dauphine Press, is also the wife of John Kinsella, Terrain’s managing director. The editor of Felt & Wire has received {and kept} many beautifully-penned notes from La Dauphine.
