Thanks to the Letters of Note blog, I just discovered this trove of letters addressed to the children of Troy, Michigan, collected by Marguerite Hart in the early 1970s, who asked dozens of "actors, authors, artists, musicians, playwrights, librarians, and politicians of the day" to pen down their thoughts on this day. I immediately read the letter written by famed actor Vincent Price. I was not disappointed. Here is my transcript of the letter he wrote, a beautiful paean to history, literature, language and libraries.
Dear Young Citizens of Troy,
Many centuries ago in Asia Minor in a city with the same name as yours, literature was born. One of the greatest poets who ever lived sat among his people and told the stories of the fabulous past. And they remembered them down through the years until the legends became fact, the fact not so much of history but of the word, of language.
Your new library is the home of language, yours and all others from the beginning. In it you will learn how others lived and thought and from it you will learn to live and think better for yourselves.
Vincent Price
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