Letters from Max by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo

I like letters, stamps, notecards and especially travel postcards of any kind. This is why one of my biggest nightmares is that one day the U.S. Postal Service will shut down, and my mailbox will be forever empty. Stemming from my love of mail, is my penchant for non-fiction books that center around a correspondence. "Letters from Max" by Sarah Ruhl and Max Ritvo is like opening a treasure chest of letters between two beloved friends. The pair first met when Sarah was teaching a playwriting class at Yale. Max was less than qualified for a spot in her class, but his application charmed and surprised her, and won him a desk in her class. Sarah is a well-known playwright and essayist, as well as a professor. Early on in the class, Max had to let her know that, despite his best efforts, he was struggling with his academic life because the pediatric cancer he had conquered as a child, was back. After confiding this to Sarah, this opened the door to their new relationship, which quickly moved from student-teacher to confidants and close friends.  Like any modern relationship, they started texting, but soon moved to longer form emails and letters. Eventually, they would exchange poems and thoughts on life, death and reincarnation. Their letters can only be described as a literary intimacy like none I have ever seen before. Early on they starting saying "I love you" to each and rather than romantic love (she had a husband and eventually he married) the phrase, "I love you" morphed over time into a mutual code word for, "I love how we can see the world together as a pair of connected eyes." While Max went to clinical trials and chemotherapy sessions, Sarah continued teaching, writing plays and raising her three small children. She encouraged him to publish his work, and he courageously did to much acclaim. The spoke openly about turning their letters into a book as well. The story of their friendship is one of the loveliest books I have ever read. I was sad to see it end but so grateful they had the foresight to share their letters with the rest of the world, to spread their love and joy, despite sadness. To buy this book on Amazon click here.