Letter to the Editor: How is Friend Henry Doing?
To send a letter to the editor, simply write in. Youāll get a reply and weāll anonymise any blogged version.
Hello Robert!
My brother and I are long-time readers of your blog and applaud your efforts to avoid work.
When we speak of the ills of technology, we often refer to Friend Henry, who you mentioned was quitting the internet for good. Iām curious: how is Friend Henry doing? Have they avoided the internet since then?
Hope youāre well and enjoying home ownership in idle bliss.
Warm regards,
Reader S
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Hello S!
Friend Henry is still going strong. Heās improbably sincere in his escape from digital technology and I do what I can to support him (which really just involves sending him an old-fashioned letter in the post every few months).
He tells me about his successes and failures in his project. A recent success was in his newfound ability to chop logs for firewood; heās also building a tiny house of sorts and writing poetry. A recent failure was when he gave in to social pressure to buy a mobile phone, albeit an old Nokia-type thing and not a smartphone, but I donāt think he uses it much. He has certainly never messaged me from it.
In my next letter to Henry, I will tell him that you asked after him. I have tried to encourage him to write a āNotes From [his house]ā column for the forthcoming print version of New Escapologist. He didnāt seem very keen when I first asked but I think my original request was for Web content; he might be more willing now that weāre talking about print. Iām not sure. I do like the thought of him writing his column by hand, Mark Boyle-style, perhaps even by candle light, filing it by post for Yours Truly to laboriously re-type.
Best Wishes, RW
About Robert Wringham
Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk