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The USPS Wants You to Pay More for Stamps—Again
The Price of Stamps
Just Jumped—Again
UPDATED

The Price of Stamps Just Jumped—Again

Forever stamps will now run you 73 cents

(Newser) - Postal rates went up again Sunday, with the price of a Forever stamp jumping five cents to 73 cents each. USA Today reports that's a 78% increase in price over the lifetime of Forever stamps, which were first issued by the USPS in 2007 at a cost of 41...

Post Office Lets Police Monitor Americans' Mail

Thousands of requests to log the outside of letters are approved each year, per the Washington Post

(Newser) - The Washington Post reports that the US Postal Service allows law enforcement agencies to monitor the mail of Americans—or at least the outside of it—on a fairly regular basis. The postal service has received more than 60,000 such requests since 2015, and it has honored virtually all...

Turns Out, Emily Dickinson Was a Blast

History has painted the renowned poet as a recluse. Her correspondence shows the opposite

(Newser) - Emily Dickinson's reputation as a reclusive genius squirreling away poems in her Amherst, Massachusetts, home until her work was posthumously discovered and published by her sister has long been the crux of her story in popular culture. But an updated volume of her letters upends this narrative, showing instead...

Mallory's Last Note From Everest: 'It Is 50 to 1 Against Us'

The May 1924 letter is the UK adventurer's final correspondence to spouse before he vanished

(Newser) - In his final letter to his wife before he vanished on Mount Everest a century ago, George Mallory tried to ease her worries even as he said his chances of reaching the world's highest peak were "50 to 1 against us." The letter, digitized for the first...

Inspiration for Clapton's 'Layla' Sells the Goods —for Millions

Pattie Boyd's auction at Christie's brings in $3.6M, way above expectations

(Newser) - The online auction of a trove of letters, photos, and other items that Pattie Boyd—ex of Eric Clapton and George Harrison—concluded Friday and surpassed all expectations, per the AP . Christie's said the auction brought in about $3.6 million, roughly seven times more than expected. The most...

After Fentanyl-Laced Letters, Officials Stock Up on Naloxone

Elections officials around the country are feeling threatened in wake of opioid-laced letters

(Newser) - The suspicious letters sent to vote centers and government buildings in six states this month were undeniably scary, some containing traces of fentanyl or white powder, accompanied by not-so-veiled threats and dubious political symbols. Harkening back to the anthrax attacks that killed five people in 2001, the AP reports that...

Another Law Firm Rescinds Job Offers Over Israel Letters

Davis Polk slams law students whose groups signed statements condemning Israel

(Newser) - An elite law firm has withdrawn job offers to three law students from Harvard and Columbia, saying those students were part of groups that signed public statements regarding the Israel-Hamas war. "These statements are simply contrary to our firm's values," so "rescinding these offers was appropriate...

Some Big Names Went to Bat for Masterson in Support Letters

Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis called 'That '70s Show' co-star a 'role model' who helped them avoid drugs

(Newser) - Nearly 50 people submitted letters in support of That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson ahead of his sentencing this week for the rape of two women in 2003, and now some of those letters are coming to light, with some big names behind them. Married couple Ashton Kutcher and...

Hemingway Letter: 'I Am More Valuable to Them Alive Than Dead'

Author's note to his lawyer after 2 plane crashes talks about injuries, beef with Abercrombie & Fitch

(Newser) - A letter that author Ernest Hemingway wrote to his attorney soon after he'd endured back-to-back plane crashes just sold for big bucks on the auction block. NPR reports the that four-page note, scrawled on stationery from a hotel in Venice, Italy, went for $237,055 via Nate D. Sanders...

George Harrison's Mom Was a Bit Irked by His Fans

In letter up for auction, Louise Harrison says she was 'disgusted' by screaming girls, 'ashamed' to be female

(Newser) - If there was one Beatles song that the late George Harrison's mom could've picked to describe how she felt about some fans of her son's band, "Get Back" may have been a top contender. At least that's the impression one gets from a letter penned...

On Death Row, He Got a Letter That 'Brought Me to My Knees'

'Atlantic' story relays tale of forgiveness offered to a murderer from his victim's granddaughter

(Newser) - One effective way to wrangle with tough emotions is to keep a journal, but for Sarah Gregory, she channeled her rage into a letter—one sent to her grandmother's killer, now on death row in Alabama. As told to Elizabeth Bruenig in her piece for the Atlantic , Gregory recalls...

Trump Dishes on Coming Book of 'Incredible' Correspondence

Former POTUS says letters include a lot of 'ass-kissing'

(Newser) - While promoting his upcoming book, former President Trump on Tuesday gave more details of what exactly the world can expect from the collection of correspondence. Of the big names featured in the book—which will include Queen Elizabeth II, former President George W. Bush, former President Obama, Chinese President Xi...

Barrett's Book Gets a Scathing Literary Reaction

In open letter, literati blast publisher, SCOTUS justice over 'fundamental human right' of abortion

(Newser) - Not everyone is thrilled about Amy Coney Barrett's upcoming book , including a couple hundred literary notables who've signed a scathing open letter to her publisher. The Guardian reports on the letter —titled "We Dissent" and signed by close to 250 "members of the writing, publishing,...

Hitler Feared Getting Sick, per Newly Revealed Letters

'If there is something bad, I absolutely have to know,' Nazi dictator said to doctor

(Newser) - Screaming at Nazi rallies apparently does a number on your voice, and it seems to have spurred Adolf Hitler to see an ear, throat, and nose specialist for at least a decade. Now, details on letters written by that doctor about the World War II-era dictator have been released. Per...

ISIS Captive's Letter to Dad Leaves Courtroom in 'Tears'

Peter Kassig, killed in 2014, wrote that his last thought would be of the love of his parents

(Newser) - If Peter Kassig was true to his word, the only thought running through his mind as he was beheaded by Islamic State terrorists was how much his parents loved him. Ed Kassig, the father of the US aid worker who was taken hostage in Syria in 2013 and killed a...

She Was the Queen of Scots, and 'Letterlocking'
Executed
Queen's Last
Letter Was
a Marvel
new study

Executed Queen's Last Letter Was a Marvel

But historians are referring to its spiral lock made of paper, not the words themselves

(Newser) - Asked to name the last act of Mary, Queen of Scots, before her execution in 1587, amateur historians might say she wrote a letter to her brother-in-law, Henry III of France. But one important act came after the writing of the letter—Mary had to lock it up, in a...

Journo's Attic Find: Letters to Him From the Unabomber
Journo Cleaning Attic Makes a
Stunning Find: 'It Can't Be Him'
in case you missed it

Journo Cleaning Attic Makes a Stunning Find: 'It Can't Be Him'

Jack Epstein found letters from Ted 'Unabomber' Kaczynski: 'Thankful I hadn’t been rude to him'

(Newser) - Most people might expect to find old tchotchkes, photos, and letters when cleaning out the attic, but two letters found by Jack Epstein this summer while cleaning out his own attic weren't yellowed love notes or ancient report cards—they were letters to him from Ted Kaczynski, aka the...

Circleville, Ohio, Was Terrorized by a Letter-Writer
The Anonymous Letters
Terrorized an Ohio Town
longform

The Anonymous Letters Terrorized an Ohio Town

CBS News looks at the decades-old mystery

(Newser) - The weirdness began in Circleville, Ohio, in 1977. And, spoiler alert, though CBS News' 48 Hours digs way deep into the decades-old mystery, it remains one with plenty of theories and no certainty. In March of that year, anonymous letters started appearing in mailboxes accusing residents of everything from embezzlement...

Daily Beast: Associate's Letter Just Threw Gaetz Under the Bus

Congressman paid for sex with multiple girls, including a minor, Joel Greenberg confesses in note

(Newser) - Word on the DOJ investigation into GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and associate Joel Greenberg over possible violations of federal sex-trafficking laws has been quiet over the past couple of weeks. That changed Thursday with an update from the Daily Beast . It got its hands on three drafts of a confessional...

She Laid Her Husband to Rest. 3 Days Later, a Racist Letter

'How cruel could you be?' Claudia Choi asks after anti-Asian note is sent to her grieving mother

(Newser) - When Byong Choi died of tuberculosis at age 83 last month, the Korean American's family had to put off his funeral in Orange County, Calif., until March 19 because of COVID restrictions, reports the Washington Post . Three days after they finally laid him to rest, a "disturbing and...

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