This letter from David Bowie to a fourteen year old American fan called Sandra Adams shows off beautifully the power of direct human engagement:

The story goes that Sandra got her hands on Bowie’s debut album from the Amarillo, NM radio station run by her uncle, and apparently wrote him to tell him how he was as pretty much just as  good as the Beatles and to ask him some personal questions.

Upon receiving his first piece of US fan-mail, the then twenty year old Bowie personally typed out a letter and sent back the above response.

Now I doubt that a global superstar like Bowie would or could go to these lengths today but the new tools of engagement are now available to give celebs the tools to engage directly with fans. Not via a PR agency or a record label intern – but directly. Keeping it real, as Davd Bowie did over 42 years ago.

[via Flavorwire]

In the BBC’s 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie ranked 29.This letter gives us an insight into why that may have been. A true Star(man)!