Spanky Taylor company

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Mr. Music
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Spanky Taylor company

Post by Mr. Music »

Sylvia "Spanky" Taylor, 58, has run a fan-mail answering service, in Burbank, California, since 1987. She and her six staff process up to 20,000 items of mail a month on behalf of 26 celebrities. Over the years, her clients have included Depp, Rob Lowe and Michael J Fox.

Typically, correspondence is acknowledged by a fan letter and a photo with a printed "autograph".

Television actors tend to generate more mail than film stars, Taylor says, because "if they're in your home every Sunday evening, you feel much more familiar with them".

Most letters from fans are simply declarations of affection and admiration, she adds. A few beg for money. A small number contain disturbing material or threats which require her to contact the celebrity's security team and law enforcement.

"Some of them contain quite bizarre sexual perversions," says Taylor. "I really wouldn't want the celebrities to see them. You get quite a dismal view of the world sometimes."

The biggest logistical headache for Taylor is working out how to dispose of the correspondence that passes through her office - including gifts like chocolate and stuffed animals.

While some celebrities do like to go through their mail personally - Fox, she says, always made an effort to read as many as possible - the majority simply do not have time.

"With candy, it gets thrown out - I don't know if someone's stuck a needle in it," she says.

Presents such as soft toys are distributed around local hospitals, she adds. As for the letters, most "just get shredded and recycled".

To most disinterested observers, this may be unsurprising.

But the fate of their correspondence is something most committed fans will not wish to dwell on, says Lynn Zubernis, an expert in the psychology of fandom at West Chester University.

"There's this little bit of every fan that thinks theirs will be the one that stands out - it's not an expectation, but a hope that theirs will be seen by the celebrity."

While the relationship between the fan and the celebrity may exist only in the mind of the former, it stems from a deeply-rooted human need for community and belonging, Zubernis believes.

As a result, even receiving a mass-produced letter of acknowledgement and a photo stamped with a reproduced signature can be a powerful experience.

"People have a tremendous need to connect with the person they are idolising," she says. "They can't ring them up and say, 'Can we have coffee?'

"It's not about the autograph. It's about the moment of connection."


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