View source for Hoax letter writers

This article covers various '''hoax letter writers'''.

== Henry Root ==
'''Henry Root''' is the creation of writer [[William Donaldson]] who wrote to numerous public figures with unusual or outlandish questions and requests.  The letters were published as ''The Henry Root Letters'' and ''The Further Letters of Henry Root'' and a compilation volume, ''The Complete Henry Root Letters''.

The Henry Root character inspired the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] [[mini-series]], ''[[Root Into Europe]]'', starring [[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]].

==Francis Wagstaffe==
Francis Wagstaffe is the creation of the Reverend Toby Forward, [[Bachelor of Education|BEd]], [[Master of Arts|MA]], and the Reverend David Johnson, [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] ([[University of Cambridge|Cantab]]), sometime President of the [[Cambridge Union Society|Cambridge Union]], now Chaplain to the [[Oxford Union]].

Wagstaffe wrote to prominent people, mostly Anglican bishops, but also others including [[Michael Green (theologian)|Michael Green]], [[Conrad Swan]], [[Ted Hughes]], [[Roy Jenkins]], [[Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman|Roger Freeman]], [[Cilla Black]], [[Rocco Forte]], [[Stella Rimington]], and [[Melvyn Bragg]] as well as organisations including the [[Royal Air Force]], the [[Royal Artillery]], the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]], [[British Rail]], [[Madame Tussauds]], the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], and the [[Russian Federation|Russian Embassy]].

In the earlier letters he poses as a purveyor of [[Cumberland sausage]]s and former [[Preparatory school (UK)|prep school]] proprietor who is seeking guidance on the Christian faith, and in the later letters he poses as His Grace the Most Reverend the Archbishop of the Old Northern Catholick Church of the East Riding Mar Francis II Metropolitan and Primate, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of Saint John of Beverly (1st Class).

Published as Toby Forward and David Johnson, eds, ''The Spiritual Quest of Francis Wagstaffe'' ([[Leominster]]: Gracewing, 1994). The publication supported St Peter's Young Homeless Support Centre in [[Highfields, Leicestershire|Highfields]], [[Leicester]].

== Others ==
Other [[prank]] mail and reviewers include:

* John Hargrave of [[Zug.com]], who sent a letter to all US senators, posing as a child and asking them for their favorite joke.<ref>[http://www.zug.com/pranks/senator/ The Senator Prank - ZUG.com, 2004]</ref>
* Bill Geerhart, author of the book ''Little Billy's Letters'' (Morrow, 2010)
* [[Ed Broth]] - also possibly the creation of comedian [[Jerry Seinfeld]].
* Robin Cooper who wrote ''The Timewaster Letters'' - the creation of [[Robert Popper]].
* [[Ted L. Nancy]] - the creation of comedian [[Barry Marder]].
* [[W. Morgan Petty]] - the [[penname|nom de plume]] of Brian Bethell.
* [[H. Rochester Sneath]] - the fictional headmaster of the fictional [[Public school (England)|British public school]] Selhurst, created by [[Humphry Berkeley]].
* the fictitious Lazlo Toth - the creation of actor/writer [[Don Novello]], who played [[Father Guido Sarducci]] on [[Saturday Night Live]].
* [[Edna Welthorpe]] was a prudish middle-aged housewife who was strongly opposed to her creator [[Joe Orton]]'s plays.
* James Spence, author of [[Silly Beggar|''Silly Beggar: The World's Stupidest Begging Letters]], wrote absurd comedy emails requesting free items from companies.
* [[Bob Servant]] who swapped emails with Internet Spammers in the book ''Delete This At Your Peril'' - the creation of [[Neil Forsyth]].
* [[David Thorne (writer)|David Thorne]], who came to public attention for tongue-in-cheek letters and emails, such as an attempt to "pay" a bill with a drawing of a seven-legged spider (2008) and repeatedly [[RSVP (invitations)|RSVP]]ing for a party to which he had not been invited.
* Liz Reed - another character created by [[William Donaldson]], Reed's TV production pitches - for shows such as 'Disabled Gladiators' and 'Anglotrash' - in the guise of Heart Felt Productions were collected in the 1998 book,  The Heart Felt Letters.

==See also==
*''[[Diary of a Nobody]]'' - a fictional diary written by [[George Grossmith]]
*''The Timewaster Diaries'' - a fictional diary, again written by Robin Cooper ([[Robert Popper]])
*[[Silence Dogood]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/25699.html Henry Raddick: man of letters - Amazon star]
*[https://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/27355.html "I am not Henry Raddick!" - HRH Prince of Wales]
*[https://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/26027.html Lloyd Webber web hoaxer unmasked]
*[http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/22264 Henry Raddick discussion at Metafilter]
*[http://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/9781742230115.htm Dear Editor: The Collected Letters of Oscar Brittle] at UNSW Press

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[[Category:Literary forgeries]]
[[Category:Journalistic hoaxes]]