Dear Editor, [1981]
I’m only glad your selection of Oscar winners was wiser than your choice of type size. If I had to squint to read a batch of haphazard predictions, I don’t know if it would be worth the eyestrain.
Bill Franklin, Philadelphia, PA
Dear Bill, [1981]
This sort of comment outnumbered all others, including words of praise and swacks at my mental stability. Ever sensitive to my unsolicited readership, I have honed the material, stretched the paper and steered clear of the reduction copier. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1981]
I enjoyed your movie and Oscar capsule a great deal, but I was wondering why you omitted a critique of the Best Director candidates. I believe this rates at least as much attention as the Supporting Actor categories.
Charles Tweed, New York, NY
Dear Charles,
Of course, space is the telling factor, but I like to think I wriggle in whatever extra material I justly can. I did, without attending specifically to the category, make my choice impressions known. In fact, I'll use this space to suggest that The Academy, if it steals Best Picture away from "Raging Bull," would have a sturdier leg to stand on if they made sure Martin Scorcese's direction was singled out. At any rate, "Raging Bull" deserves both Oscars this year. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1982]
We noticed that two years ago, you were almost across the board right on, whereas last year you only barely lit up the scoreboard with your predictions. What gives?
Dick & Didi Smiddeon, Buffalo, NY
Dear Dick & Didi,
Were wisdom my aim, I would be smart not to guess. Were integrity first priority, I would ignore these ultimately arbitrary Oscar comparisons. I enjoy movies, opinions, and writing. I only hope that in that there is something to give. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1982]Through your Newsletter my interest in CampChuck has grown, however, I can’t seem to locate any information on it at all. Is CampChuck a reputable institution?
Bryan Taggart Portland, OR
Dear Bryan, [1982]
Yes, CampChuck certainly does have a reputation. Two places you will find us are “The National Rumor Catalog” and “The Sourcebook of Alternative Presumptions.” If you can’t find us at your local bookstore, try asking around at airline terminals. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1982]
I just wanted you to know that I appreciate your elaborate attempts to express your Oscar considerations and analytic guesswork all in one little bundle. I think it’s very cute. I’ll bet you have curly hair and a wonderful mother.
Dorothy Poles, Elizabeth, NJ
Dear Dorothy, [1982]
Pshaw. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1983]
Your newsletter was such a surprise treat. I want you to know that I had it by my side Academy Awards night. It added a special enthusiasm to my viewing. I do hope CampChuck supports you in step two of a perennial edition.
Adeline Litney, St. Louis, MO
Dear Ad, [1983]
Not without trepidation, CampChuck decided to back a second edition. On other fronts, CampChuck is contemplating other forays into print. Possible projects: “Marriage and Bunk Beds”; also, “A Guide to Obsessive Tennis.” Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1983]
Now that you’re practically an institution, what with your Academy Awards every year and all, when might we hope to see you, perhaps, quarterly?
Mary Beth Quinn, Chicago, IL
Dear Mary Beth, [1983]
I toy with the idea of issues featuring expanded individual reviews, but then I’ve considered taking off my clothes and jumping into a bed of cactus. Be careful with that word, “institution.” Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1984]
From what I gather about CampChuck, I’m wondering if you’re planning Oscar predictions by computer.
Tyna Beckman, New York, NY
Dear Tyna, [1984]
01010111 01101000 01111001
00000000 01101110 01101111
01110100 00111111 Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1984]
I have a bet with my brother. He says you’ll fall flat on your face or get one right if you’re lucky. I say 4 out of 5.
Tod Weck, Arlington, VA
Dear Tod, [1984]
I make newsletters, not book, but I can’t help but hope you win. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1986]I keep your newsletter where I do most of my reading, and so long as I pick up the appropriate sheets for the appropriate function, both experiences help clear my mind.
Jackson Waivel, Wheeling, WV
Dear Jackson, [1986]
I’ve been there myself, and it isn’t clear to me yet. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1986]
I looked over all the new names you suggested for your newsletter, and well, none of them excited me much. Why don’t you be different and call it “Osc3ar”? The “3” of course is silent.
Henrietta Cnkka, Toledo, OH
Dear Henrietta, [1986]
I did a name search on “Osc3ar” at the state offices. Sorry, it’s taken.” Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1987]
Which would you choose: always guessing right on who will win the Oscars or seeing movies for free?
Cole Chinster, Scranton, PA
Dear Cole, [1987]
If I could do the first, I’d have the second. Ed.
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Dear Editor: [1987]
How come you stick so closely to the Academy Award nominations in your choices for Best this and Best that? Doesn’t that shortchange you and us?
Dear Myna, [1987]
True, it hurts my movie appreciation sensibilities to the quick that a wonderful, understated film like “Desert Bloom” seems overlooked. Fitting CampChuck’s annual Oscar theme into a few pages barely leaves a line or two for nonsense. Rather than cover more, I’m tempted to publish different kinds of less. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1988]Enclosed, please find my check for $12,000. If I can enjoy the pleasure of “CampChuck Reviewer” coverage of current films on a monthly basis, I may well “subscribe” every year.
Joan Bairlytord Tipton, Atlanta, GA
Dear Joan, [1988]
To test if I was dreaming, I somewhat rashly fed your patronage to the garbage disposal. I realize I might have pinched myself more prudently by depositing the check. Would you please run that by me again? Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1990]What other CampChuck treats are there and where can I purchase them?
Sue Jean Taddle, Obladee, MO
Dear Sue Jean, [1990]
Among the titles, there’s a book of essays, “You Think You’re the Only One Who Works Full Time?” There’s a syndicated column, “The Knowbuddy.” There’s a novel, “Bum’s Rush.” If you would, please enlist 23,611 of your closest friends to subscribe their devotions to CampChuck in print. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1990, special edition]
Why do you refer to yourself as CampChuck rather than Camp Chuck?
JoAnn Van derKinder, Twin Forks, ID
Dear JoAnn,
This is the sort of trivial curiosity that warms the lifeblood and the life blood of CampChuck. CampChuck is morethanaplace; it is a conjunction, a confluence. Now, let me ask you a question. Which is more spaced out: CampChuck or C a m p C h u c k? Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1992]
So, did anyone win the “CampChuck Challenge”? After all, you only got half right. What was this “keepsake of inestimable value”?
Josslaine Grihja, Great Neck, NY
Dear Josslaine, [1992]
If only I were in earshot of your comforting voice that, no doubt, others cling to routinely. Actually, only one person outguessed me of those who took the challenge. He received a six inch chocolate Oscar and a complete set of CampChuck newsletters dating back to 1980. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1992]
Where do you find time to write the newsletter? If I’m not mistaken, you have a job and a wife.
Sarah Woderhast, Oklahoma City, OK
Dear Sarah, [1992]
An evening or two here, a weekend or two there … 5:30 to 7:30am often proves productive. You were the one who mentioned my wife second, but I laugh since my wife at times enthusiastically suggests I do this quarterly. I probe gently, “You mean you want me to be this unavailable four times a year?” Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1993]
My husband gave me one of those looks. He says, “Pinny.” He calls me Pinny. He says, “Pinny, those letters to the editor aren’t real. Don’t you get it?” I says, “Hiney.” I just always called him Hiney. I says, “Hiney, I don’t always get it, but I get it sometimes.”
That’s okay, isn’t it?
Pinhedda Hiney, Hollowtater, ID
Dear Pinny,
It’s better if you get it just once, but sometimes is probably enough. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1993]
How much camp would a camp Chuck chuck if a CampChuck could chuck camp?
Lynnia Glein, Hakaminchinik, ME
Dear Lynnia, [1993]
At CampChuck, camp camping and Chuck chucking are electives. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1995, special edition]
When you die, will they find any “lost issues” or unpublished CampChuck Reviewers?
Mortimer Overbringer, Yorn TN
Dear Mortimer, [1995, special edition]
Questions like this, asked of writers before anyone actually cares, could prove a boon to archivists who don’t have a life in the actual present worth living. Last year, for instance, CampChuck started a Special Edition after a summer trip to Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes in California. Since not enough writing occurred during the vacation, the frenzied attempt to whip out an issue (before work and other routines insinuated) fell short of completion. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1995, special edition]
Would you ever put out an edition of The “CampChuck Reviewer” that wasn’t all tidy and fit and edited proper or really finished even?
Pat Pitt, San Luis Obispo, CA
Dear Pat, [1995, special edition]
Not taking itself too seriously, sometimes CampChuck
Dear Editor, [1996]
Do you suffer much putting out your newsletter? Do you like to suffer?
Edyne Kastenbump, Rye, NY
Dear Edyne, [1996]
There should be a separate mailbag that my wife answers. Since you turned up in my mailbox, I'd have to admit some anxieties over finding time and purporting clever, telling "litterature." This makes for lightweight suffering, but if that's suffering, I guess I like it. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [1998]
You’re a computer guy. How come you don’t have a Web page? If you’re anybody you have a Web page.
Galby Thacker, Ft. Collins, CO
Dear Galby, [1998]
I was somebody once, but I fell off into a parallel inertia. I have a vision of putting the entire “CampChuck Reviewer” archive on the Web, but it’s one of those things I never get to after working all week as a computer guy. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [2000]
How come I haven’t received your CampChuck special editions?
Dawnee Panglow, Azusa, CA
Dear Dawnee, [2000]
What started as occasional CampChuck Film Festival editions shifted to accounts of vacation getaways. Out of cheapness, I tend mostly to send these special editions to current CampChuck subscribers.
05/99: Death Valley,CA; Zion, UT
10/98: Washington D.C.
09/97: Central and Easter Oregon
09/96: Andalucia, Spain
05/96: Jawbone Falls, CA
12/95: Santa Barbara, CA
07/95: Rocky Mountains, CO
10/94: 5th Festival (Hidden Villa)
06/94: 4th Festival (Best Scripts)
01/94: Anza Borrego, CA
05/93: Northeastern CA
07/90: 3rd Festival (Best Pictures)
10/86: 2nd Festival (Spain trip)
02/86: 1st Festival(Movie favorites)
Scanning the panorama of seven consecutive years of bonus editions and then some, you remind me that these extra efforts are especially gratifying to me. I surely will share with anyone who expresses interest. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [2004]
Don't you just look up the winners of the Golden Globes, toss a few words around them, and call it a newsletter.
Kit Bunger, Delta, CO
Dear Kit, [2004]
That's all I do. Actually, the Golden Globes are a very undependable predictor of Oscar winners despite a likely match up this time around. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [2005]
I enjoy your newsletter. Keep in touch.
Louella Mernt, Concord, NH
Dear Louella, [2005]
Thanks. I enjoyed receiving a torn-in-half page from your CampChuck Reviewer with this compliment scrawled on it. Ed.
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Dear Editor, [2010]You’ve been doing your movie newsletter for thirty years? Wow. What kinds of things have you learned?
Alma Tahmwiltel, Mobile, AL
Dear Alma, [2010]
I’ve learned that the hook of “The CampChuck Reviewer” may be predicting the Oscars, but it’s really about a glad involvement with the movies and a glad tradition in the writing. I’ve learned there’s something fresh in the challenge of creating this newsletter every year. I’ve learned that, almost certainly, Meryl Streep is not going to call me. Ed.
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