12/27/08 My 2008 Holiday Letter is done! Read it now!!. Click here to open.

I started sending a form letter at Christmas time in 1991. The previous few years I had sent out 50-60 hand-written Holiday cards. I knew that something different had to be done, since (a) this took too long and (b) many people complained that they could not decipher my handwriting.

To make it a bit more personal, I decided to introduce different sections with different quotations from songs, films, books, or plays. Though I felt bad about sending a form letter, I got lots of positive feedback on that first letter and so I sent it out again the next year, and the next year, and … over the last 15 years, the letter has remained remarkably consistent in form and in content. …

Now that I have a wife, a child, and a new job that ramps up in December (Final Exam season!), the holiday letter is only in electronic form which means that:

• I’ll spend less time on folding, envelope stuffing, and stamping;
• If you want the letter, you’ll get it more quickly;
• If you don’t want the letter, you won’t be stuck with it in your mailbox

Enjoy!