This is what started it all. Possibly worth re-reading, even if you were a recipient . . .
April 21, 1997
Stillman Brown
Your Name
Somewhere Out There
Our Mailing List
Dear Friend, (insert actual name here if person is really important)
We know you get a lot of mail from wineries and wine-related businesses, and most of it is junk. So many points, so little wine, so give us your credit card number. Well, this would have been one of those letters, if only we had any sense . . . the wineries and wine shops that do that sort of thing seem to make money at it. But who needs money?
This is an exclusive invitation to attend a major historical event. In the tradition of the humane, selfless aristocrats of the European Renaissance, men and women of honor who, inspired by their holy faith, bequeathed subsequent generations of humanity some of the greatest works of art the world has ever beheld, we have commissioned a painting. The artist is a heretofore unknown genius; and the subject is the defining cultural and religious event of the twentieth century, which was not fully recognized until recently.
At 6 P.M. on Friday, May 2, 1997, at the London Wine Bar at 415 Sansome Street in downtown San Francisco, California, we will unveil for the first time a painting by Robert Cochran, “The Death Of Elvis Presley.” We hope that you will be able to attend.
Yours,
(sign here if hand is steady enough)
Stillman Brown
Jory Winery
Band practice
