Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com (05/28/88)
Do any of you read Bob Greene, the syndicated columnist in the [Chicago Tribune]? He appears in several newspapers. A few months ago, Greene got a letter from a college student at the University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana with a similar scheme. This fellow also had a hard luck story about not being able to pay for school. He wanted everyone in the United States to mail him *a single penny each*. Greene ran a column about the fellow, and his plan to finance his college education at a minimal expense to everyone in America. He ran the fellow's post office box address and invited everyone to help. In a follow up story about two months later, Greene reported that this fellow had received *several million* replies from all over the country. Although a few people dutifully had enclosed a penny scotch-taped to a piece of paper as the column had instructed them to do, there were many, many folks who took more pity on the 'poor college student' and sent one, five, ten or twenty dollar bills. Greene's update on the situation said that the student had received so much mail he had to hire someone to work *full time* for him opening and logging mail recieved! I don't remember the exact dates. This would have been several months ago. I'm certain JJ got his idea from that column, since Bob Greene is carried by alot of newspapers. Patrick
davef@brspyr1.BRS.Com (Dave Fiske) (06/02/88)
In article <6008@cup.portal.com>, Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com writes: > Do any of you read Bob Greene, the syndicated columnist in the [Chicago > Tribune]? He appears in several newspapers. > > A few months ago, Greene got a letter from a college student at the University > of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana with a similar scheme. This fellow also had a > hard luck story about not being able to pay for school. He wanted everyone > in the United States to mail him *a single penny each*. There's an article in this week's Weekly World News (dated June 14) about a 10-year-old whose dream is to go to medical school so he can find a cure for diabetes. He wrote a letter to the New York Daily News, asking people to send him a quarter apiece, and so far has received $1,000. I also heard something about a company in Houston which manufactures parts for oil drilling equipment. With the depression in the oil industry, they are in danger of going under, and have put ads in newspapers asking people to give them money to keep the company going. (They make it clear that donors will get nothing in return.) This is getting monotonous. -- "GOOFY GARDENER WEDS Dave Fiske (davef@brspyr1.BRS.COM) A HEAD OF LETTUCE" BRS Information Technologies, Latham, NY Home: David_A_Fiske@cup.portal.com Headline from Weekly World News CIS: 75415,163 GEnie: davef