EDITOR’S NOTE: We decided to try something a little different for the next few weeks. Each staff member will write a letter to someone they never met but wish they had. Perhaps a hero. Maybe a villain. Maybe someone never known to the larger world. Real or fictional. Alive or dead. Below is Part 1 of our 5-part series. We hope you find this exercise in literary fantasy intriguing.
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Today, August 11, 2020 marks the sixth anniversary of comedian/actor Robin Williams’ death. Around the time of Robin’s’ passing, I sat down and composed the letter I wish I’d written him. It is as follows:
Dear Mr. Williams,
I know everyone is probably doing something similar to this right now—or will soon. But I want to write the letter I never got around to.
“I never want to grow up!”
See, I used to want to write to you. I didn’t know you at all beyond your movies. And, as a child, I only knew you by the singular film: Hook. In hindsight, I know now it was hardly your best work. But it was the story that always stayed with me.
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I always identified with Peter Pan, often declaring long and loud to anyone who cared to listen “I never want to grow up!” I knew I had to–I wasn’t THAT detached from reality–but I made sure everyone knew I wasn’t happy about it.
