It could be my warped sense of humor, but I think this article is HILARIOUS and a work of genius.
In the late 90s, Bill Geerhart (a grown ass man and pop-culture historian) posed as a little kid and wrote to Charles Manson, the Unabomber, Richard Ramirez and other killers; as well as nonmurderous celebrities like Larry Flynt, Alan Greenspan, Dick Cheney (well, allegedly nonmurderous), Clarence Thomas, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking for advice on tough topics like dropping out of school and saving up for a speedboat. Radar Magazine posted their correspondence.
Richard Ramirez
(Oh hey, personalized stationary…)
To: Billy
From: Richard Ramirez
Received: January 21, 1999Billy,
Greetings. Got your letter. What school do you go to? Who’s your friend? You should stay in school. Send pictures.
Richard
Billy’s follow-up letter in 2008:
To: Billy
From: Richard Ramirez
Received: February 22, 2008Bill,
Greetings. Received your letter. Glad to hear my letter to you in ‘99 made a difference. When do you graduate? Yeah, get me a subscription to Radar Magazine. What is it about? Know any Asian girls willing to correspond? Send pictures. You can photocopy 5 on 1 page or send ‘em singular. Nothing scenic though. Send some of girls in bikinis. Do you go clubbing? Seen any good movies? Saw 3:10 to Yuma the other day. It was an OK Western. Didn’t do too good at the box office though. Do you have family? I’m youngest of five. That’s all for now. Take it E/Z write when you get a chance.
Your friend,
Richard
Charles Manson
To: Billy
From: Charles Manson
Received: December 15, 1998Find out why the L.A. Times hasn’t sent my newspaper —Charles Manson.
P.S. O-yes HI BILLY
Easy easy EASSY(Manson also attached the mysterious picture of a barn, above.)
I bet you don’t remember this —you dont [sic] even know where its [sic] at. HAHA. I got you there.
Charles Manson
Easy BILLY
Ted Kaczynski (aka “The Unabomber”)
(Always the voice of reason.)
Larry Flynt
Alan Greenspan
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Clarence Thomas
To: Billy Geerhart
From: Clarence Thomas
Received: January 10, 1995
Dear Billy:
Thank you for your recent letter. I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to write to me. As you have requested, I’m including a copy of my official photograph. Best wishes for a successful school year.Sincerely,
Clarence ThomasHandwritten below: I like the Egg McMuffin. Actually, I like almost everything there.
Who doesn’t? But I’m with Billy. Quarter Pounder with cheese FTW.
(Hat tip to Alyk of CW fame for bringing this to my attention).
Posted by Heather, filed under people. Date: April 29, 2008, 11:32 am | 
Stumble it!
April 29th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Omg, this is equal parts creepy and hilarious. I love it!
April 29th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
man, I really need to start writing some famous people. I could get some cool shit.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I know! But I’m afraid writing Manson will put me on some government watch list, if I’m not already. (I’ve requested some hilarious pamphlets from insane/questionable organizations in the past.)
May 21st, 2008 at 8:45 am
Oh. My. God.
This is amazing!!
September 24th, 2008 at 1:08 am
[…] i The Curious Life Blog Archive “Dear Charles Manson, “ […]
September 30th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Wow, you can write just about anybody and get a response…I guess that it’s good that the majority of them wanted him to stay in school, except for Charles Manson-what was his response supposed to mean?!
November 25th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
i would be kinda worried to write those people. i would get sort of scared. but it is really interesting. I still dont understand why he sent the picture of the barn though. A movie that you might want to watch about rameriz is copy cat
January 13th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
charles manson is a joke what a total jerk off
March 21st, 2009 at 8:47 am
ahhaha…
Manson and his mindfucks.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Why would you write Ramirez about dropping out? … he did in the 9th grade. I guess his answer stunned me… and yeah, Manson is a little out there, it’s like he’s still tripping (or suffering long term effects) from Acid!!
April 12th, 2009 at 2:21 am
Mycket roligt att läsa! (Trans.fr. Swedish: Very fun reading!)
May 6th, 2009 at 3:41 am
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May 6th, 2009 at 10:28 am
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May 6th, 2009 at 10:31 am
[…] 6, 2009 · No Comments [”Dear Charles Manson”] In the late 90s, Bill Geerhart (a grown ass man and pop-culture historian) posed as a little […]
May 6th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
If I shook the internet for hours and hours, I doubt ti would never cough up anything as fantastic as this.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:10 am
My kids and I emailed the governors of all 50 states and received back photos of almost all of them. I think we ended up lacking 5 in all.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Whoa dude, Charles Manson is an effing nutjob. But who would’ve thought that McDonald’s would have inspired a hand written response from Clarence Thomas? Biz-arre!
May 12th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
WTF!?!?!?
May 14th, 2009 at 2:38 am
[…] Link Taguri: amuzant, inchisoare, personalitati, scrisori Altele, posibil asemănătoare: - Minti stralucite - Portia de ras - Camere de supraveghere la birou - Star Wars in viata de zi cu zi […]
June 4th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
this is funny, my frend and i are going to do this to our teachers now! how do you get there addresses?
bryan
June 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
HAH! This is friggin great. Ramirez cracked me up. What the hell was with “send me pictures”? haha.. and yeah the egg mcmuffin was priceless.
August 9th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Perfect!
Too bad he send so few.
I would love to see a letter to OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Gearge Bush (both), English Prime Minister Blair and many many more
September 14th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Look up the Lazlo Letters. Don Novello did this to great effect in the 70s and 80s. Hysterical stuff…I’ve read all three books.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
People like you ruin the chances for screwed-up young kids to be taken seriously when writing letters.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:02 am
I think Manson saw through the scheme. I think he thought it was too stereotypical. The writing seems intentionally bad. I think he might have considered it a distinct possibility that someone was trolling him. Being an epic troll, Charlie Manson trolled back. Even if it was actually a little kid, he doesn’t exactly mind being associated with a little crazy. I think he means to imply that he has–one some mental level–taken you hostage, abducted you, is going to murder you, etc. He’s basically playing the stereotypical convict back at you. I think it is meant to unnerve you, to unmask you, so he can discuss the real motivation you had to write him. Why? Because he thinks he can build a relationship with you, and manipulate you into doing them errands and favors on the outside. The nightstalker took this approach as well, even with a little kid, because he probably saw the possibility of a scam as well. He doesn’t care though, because he is in prison and just going fishing. He has nothing to lose.
I think the Unibomber is the most sincere, honorable guy in this lot–including the famous. Got to admire an intelligent guy like that on some level, despite his obvious shortcomings.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Ah yes…The forgotten art of handwritten letters!
This stuff is priceless, I can’t wait to try this…get ready CRAZIES!!!
September 15th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
[…] The Curious Life » Blog Archive » “Dear Charles Manson, “ […]
September 15th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Funny, but I think I would feel uncomfortable giving the Unibomber my address.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Very curious indeed! ..and yes, I am going to start my own letter writing project!
September 17th, 2009 at 9:09 am
OMG! This guy is the shit. I now have a new list of Top 3 Comedians ever:
1) Bill Hicks
2) Bill Geerhart
3) Andy Kaufman
September 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
[…] – The Curious Life » Blog Archive » “Dear Charles Manson, “ In the late 90s, Bill Geerhart (a grown ass man and pop-culture historian) posed as a little kid […]
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:05 pm
[…] Easy, Billy. September 22, 2009 Ever wonder what would happen if you pretended to be an elementary school kid and wrote letters to famous people, like Justice Thomas and Ted […]
September 28th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I loved the Manson response, lol..
October 9th, 2009 at 7:37 am
My favorite response was Larry Flynt’s. I have fond memories of old Sears, Roebuck catalogs.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
bless this post with love,peace,respect and success.
just let love be
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Bravo!
Most of you will probably not remember this, but writer and comedian Don Novello (aka Father Guido Sarducci) published a book in the ’70’s titled “The Lazlo Letters” in which a fictional character named Lazlo Toth wrote letters to a number of real-life celebrities in a fashion similar to this. Very funny book, and worth rooting around for.
October 26th, 2009 at 3:54 am
This is simply the most amazing&pretty original thing I’ve seen lately, even tho this is pretty old, what a clever idea.
I’d really like to know wtf that barn is, I’d try to find it if it still exists and go there who knows maybe he hid a body or something there, pretty damn creepy.
I’m sure for ppl who would like to do this know, they may not be easily accepted as this guy was cause i’m sure it’s been done a lot by not, but who knows if they know it’s simply the work of a troll or are clueless, they do have quite a lot of freedom to the internet so who knows.
December 17th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Im not sure what is so special about impersonating an elementary school child, and asking for a picture from the govenor who was actually cool enough to take the time to reply. Of course Impersonating small children, taking to various people, and reducing their humanity must be the new black.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:53 am
this article is definitely hilarious like you said
December 29th, 2009 at 5:01 am
This is friging great. I love this…
January 12th, 2010 at 1:32 am
very clever… why stop there, though? i’m thinking sideshow bob and/or that hitch hiking freak from last house on the left that etched a roadmap into his palm for a laugh…or i don’t know, maybe jack black….or corky from life goes on… andrew
January 18th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Billy should write to Paris Hilton for advice. She is just as qualified as Charles Manson or Richard Ramirez.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:21 am
[…] The Curious Life Blog Archive “Dear Charles Manson, “ Zitat: […]
February 5th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
I many time visited this site and here something is constant new. I will come once again