Dear Ray,

We me in Ms. Fox's English class at University High School. I was in the 10th grade in 1965. She assigned one of your books to read; I read everything of yours I could find. She later suggested attending a playhouse in Hollywood; I saw the Veldt, The Chicago Abyss and the Pedestrian. The stage was empty except for the players. I now remember these plays most vividly. I remember my mother's efforts to imitate the gestures of the actor who was remembering the playing of a phonograph in The Chicago Abyss.

I was a neighbor once; our house was on the corner of Patricia and Cushdon, just south of Pico Boulevard. I was the boy who yelled, "Stop! Stop!" to the passing ice cream truck from the hidden safety of my tree house? I had a small red bicycle with the tall gooseneck and butterfly handlebars. My bike had those important decals purchased from the Palms bicycle shop, flames and skulls and pin stripes. Did my pals and I annoy you with our playing cards fixed with clothespins to rub on the bicycle spokes? Or better yet, how about the balloons on the spokes? We could get the penny balloons from Jim�s Toy House, they were much more authentic reproductions of the neighbor's motorcycle. I was the boy with the Flexible Flyer, too, a land sled, with wheels instead of runners that could slide over the sidewalks of Cheviot Hills; I didn�t wait for snow.

I moved away before I met you in Ms. Fox�s class, but we remained close; you always wrote. I had never known of many strange and mysterious things until you told me. Lightning rods! Los Angeles had nothing like that. I moved to the Midwest this year and saw my first lightning rod, and remembered that lightning rod salesman. Thanks for the memories.

Now I have a son in high school. He enjoys reading. I tried to get him to read any of your stories, the ones that kept me reading late into the night. He had no interest in your stories. None. None until recently, when his English teacher announced that your books had been banned from use in his school. After that, you began writing to him, too. Now you have made another friend in another English class. I�m glad you two have met. It seems appropriate that banning your books increased their popularity.

Keep writing, old friend and neighbor.