FanmailIs this photo staged or did Elvis really pour over his fan mail? 

A week or so ago, BBC News posted a story about how a bag of Taylor Swift's fan mail (complete with sparkles and glitter and gushing love from pre-teens) was found unopened in a trash bin. The story went on to say what a burden the thousands of letters from fans can be to a celebrity. Some hire people to read them. Some, like Ringo Starr, just tell us outright they will not be reading any more fan mail.

I don't know if Cher reads her fan mail. When I was eleven I did write an impassioned letter to both Cher (about an outrageous story I saw in The National Enquirer) and to Richard Simmons (about following my dreams). I actually received a very warm and personal response from Richard Simmons (which he probably dictated to an assistant) and an autographed photo from Cher. Years later in my late teens I wrote a rambling and incoherent letter to John Waite and received a postcard back. In each case, I felt a kind of nerd's remorse at having broken the fourth wall.

I really don't know what good can come of fan mail. Cher gets into the muck too much answering twitter questions, our modern way of trying to touch a celebrity. Although I feel Swift's office should have been more discreet with her fan mail, I don't really blame her for not reading all of it.