Whitby man’s letter to director Michael Moore stopped at border
U.S. officials can’t explain why fan mail was opened by customs and returned Even U.S. music superstar Billie Eiliish wrote back.
Bobby Morrison is an anomaly among his teenage peers, who use social media to contact celebrities.
He’s a true believer in the personal touch of handwritten letters and the thrill that comes with getting a reply the oldfashioned way.
The 19-year-old Whitby man has even gotten responses from famous people like music superstar Billie Eilish, physicist Stephen Hawking and former CBC personality Rick Mercer.
Things were going swimmingly until he wrote a flattering letter to filmmaker Michael Moore last month.
It never made its destination. It didn’t even get past the U.S. border.
“I’ve gotten return to sender notices, but this one struck me as very odd, because when I got it back it was covered in tape from U.S. customs,” Morrison said in a phone interview.
“I found it very odd that, out of all the letters I’ve sent to the United States and everywhere else, this was the one that got stopped.”
It’s a peculiar twist that has Morrison feeling his privacy was violated.
The Star contacted both the United States Postal Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection with a photo of Morrison’s envelope to find out which department was responsible and why the letter was sent back to the Whitby man.
“Since it appears from the photo that CBP (customs) opened the letter, we defer to them for comment,” said postal service spokesperson Martha Johnson.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said it’s an odd occurrence, but it’s not part of their protocol.
A few things are agreed upon: the letter was opened; it had official U.S. Customs tape attached; and there was no return to sender note, a common practice when letters are returned to the point of origin.
U.S. customs spokesperson Kelly Cahalan acknowledged the letter is tagged with CBP tape. Cahalan said the department views letters consisting solely of correspondence as private and not an item that warrants checks.
“I don’t know why that’s (tape) on there,” she said, adding that U.S customs would have sent it on to the recipient’s address if it was opened but not confiscated. “We wouldn’t return it to the (sender).” She said the department shares joint international mail facilities with U.S Post, and it is within customs’ authority to open mail containing goods to verify the contents, but not letters.
“CBP does not make it a practice to target or open such mail,” Cahalan said. “CBP does not have a procedure to return mail to sender, that would be a process that the United States Postal Service would have to initiate.”
Morrison, a broadcast student at Durham College, says it won’t dissuade him from forging ahead with a hobby he started about five years ago. Next up, another shot at writing to the controversial filmmaker.
Cahalan said Moore is “definitely not” being singled out for mail screening. Cahalan couldn’t comment on whether Moore could have requested such checks, adding, “I have a hard time believing that’s the case.”
Morrison said it is a breach of his privacy and “I’m a bit weirded out they would want to open it and read it.”
“Even if they don’t like Michael Moore, it’s no reason to stop his correspondence,” Morrison said.
Attempts by the Star to reach Moore for comment were unsuccessful.
Morrison said he has found writing letters cathartic since high school, where he was encouraged to write to pen pals.
The first famous person he wrote to was Hawking.
“They sent a picture of (Hawking) that I have in my room right now,” he said.
Morrison’s bedroom wall is plastered with letters he got back from people like music superstar Billie Eilish, who sent him a handwritten note signed,
“Thank you for existing, love you, Eilish.”
That doesn’t top the list of favourites for the college student, who spent 2016 writing to all of Canada’s big-city mayors.
“The biggest one to me was when I wrote to Rick Mercer,” said Morrison, who loves how the comedian took on politicians and told them what he had on his mind.
“It took two years, but he wrote back,” Morrison said. “It says, ‘Bobby, Rant on.’ When I got it, I was very impressed.”
Although frustrated by the recent border hiccup, Morrison is committed to writing more letters, something he knows is rare for someone his age to be doing.
“I like old-fashion things,” he said. “It’s something that’s dying, but it’s something that’s interesting.