From: r_and_r
Date: 07/06/2002
Subj: whatup?

It seems your web site has either disappeared, or been moved to parts unknown. Have you been kidnaped by pigmies an forced to teach them transcendental yodeling? Or perhaps you have become entangled with a obscure Cult that has keep 24 hour stakeouts at K-Marts in hopes of spotting Elvis ? Or possibly something bizarre has happened? please advise : RJO

Let it never be said that I am slow in responding to my email. The new web site address is http://richardhartersworld.com/cri . As you surmised I was indeed kidnapped by an obscure cult of alien pygmies who wanted to grind my bones to use as a condiment in their salads in lieu of plastic parmesan cheese. I only escaped by introducing them to grilled Velveeta and Spam sandwiches.

From: brew
Date: 12/20/2002
Subj: fan mail

I have thoroughly enjoyed your web page. Thanks for writing it down.

My apologies for not replying sooner. It’s bad when your late email piles up on your virtual desk and overflows on your virtual floor. In any event, thanks for the kind words.

From: David Windsor
Date: 01/03/2003
Subj: Very Much Enjoy Your Site

I’ve been reading the stuff on your site for quite a while now, and have always enjoyed the humorous, the philosophical, and the erudite items you have posted (as well as the rest, of course). Your items, along with the Letters pages, expose me to many points of view different from my own and sometimes make me think things through. A good thing.

I thank you for your approval.

The following which I happened upon by chance may clarify things a bit.

FROM: Polonius Felonius, Space-Time Continuity Preservation Dept.
TO: Mark Trice, Field Agent, Reality Repair Service
SUBJ: Another anomaly in Richard Harter’s World

Sorry Mark, but we’ve got another bad one in your favorite pesthole. Harter’s world has crossed lines with another space-time continuum – again. The immediate symptom is a letter column from another universe. Check it out, see how bad it is, and fix it.

FROM: Mark Trice, Field Agent, Reality Repair Service
TO: Polonius Felonius, Space-Time Continuity Preservation Dept.
SUBJ: Another anomaly in Richard Harter’s World

Got it. It was a shorted out, virtual reality cross-bar. Nothing serious except that a reader noticed the anomaly. Isn’t there any way we can shut that thing down? It has more reality leaks than a congressional committee.

FROM: Polonius Felonius, Space-Time Continuity Preservation Dept.
TO: Mark Trice, Field Agent, Reality Repair Service
SUBJ: Another anomaly in Richard Harter’s World

Sorry, no can do. He has pull; the wife of the Secretary of Reality has a thing about bad poetry. Don’t worry about the reader. He will be dealt with.

I’m quite sure that this doesn’t refer to you, but I would keep a sharp eye out for Men In Black if I were you.

From: David-Glenn Anderson
Date: 01/19/2003
Subj: Cold Equations

I am doing a presentation at Life, the Universe & Everything symposium, SF in the classroom. The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin is an example I will use. I need to include more identification on your The Cold Equations: A Critical Study such as your name.

My name is Richard Harter, and I am the author of the piece in question. If you need any other information, please write.

From: Harthugkm
Date: 01/12/2003
Subj: fossilization

what is a better understanding of what fossilization really is?

I’m not sure what you have in mind with your question. However I will suggest that you look at http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo3xx/308/cha1.html which gives a layman’s level overview. If you have further questions, feel free to write back.

From: Chris
Date: 01/21/2003
Subj: Loved your Marine Corps pages

I hope you get this email, I too was a Marine at Camp Lejeune 89-94 and I found your “short stories” from there quite funny. I also love math and have a B.S. in computer science. Your entire site was excellent! Most people think I am too nerdy to have been in the Corps, what the F* do they know about Marines though!

Thanks for writing; kind words are always appreciated. I suppose that the weapons that you used were different than the ones I used except for the most important element of all – the individual Marine. Be that as it may, many sorts of people can and have been Marines.

From: Don Crowder
Date: 01/08/2003
Subj: I enjoyed your site

I’m posting a link to the “Moishe and the Pope” story in the humor section of our ezine, and I included a link to your home page after looking your site over. A reader sent me the story, and I’d rather post a link than a lot of text since I have trouble keeping my publication size within limits so I used Google to search out a web page that published the story. Your site was the first on the list that didn’t have a pop-up.

We don’t pop-ups here. We do windows reluctantly but we don’t clean them.

True. I should do it – what I should do is write a script to go through all of my oodles of pages and fix them up. As soon as the pigs that flew south for the winter fly back north I will get right to it. In the mean time I shall remain in a state of gracelessness.

Nice site; I like it.

See Oilcrisis.htm as referenced in the editorial entitled Does your mother know you do that?.

From: Justin
Date: 12/31/2003
Subj: linkage

Apparently god is angered by the news of his non-existence since the link to the page disproving him seems to be severed.

I informed God of His oversight and He charitably restored the link. He thanks you for your consideration.