#Letter October 26

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One of the features of almost every newspaper is a LETTER to the Editor.

Probably the most common LETTER to the Editor (LTE) category is having the writer urge elected officials to make their decision based on his/her viewpoint. As we lead up to election there is also no shortage of LTE endorsing various candidates. Yet sometimes a story about a LETTER breaks away from this mold. Sometimes newspapers actually solicit leaders to write an article or LETTER.

Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton (1874-1936) is an individual that is associated with such a LETTER. Chesterton was British and was an author.

If you want to read some of G.K. Chesterton works here is a link to all of his books.

The story about the LTE goes like this. The London Times in the early part of the 20th Century polled a number of authors in England with a simple request. Would they write an article addressing the question “What is wrong with the world?”.

Chesterton responded via a LETTER to the newspaper with the following.

“Dear Sir,

Regarding your article ‘What is wrong with the world?’ I am.

Yours truly, G. K. Chesterton.”

The brilliance in this LETTER is the simplicity of the message. To change the world we have to start by changing ourselves.