Ann and Sasha Shulgin corresponded with many people. As described recently in an overview of the Erowid crew’s Shulgin library archiving activities, when we found notes and letters, they were set aside to be scanned by Keeper Trout, the co-lead on this project. In some cases, we also photographed items in their original location for context. Here we share some examples.
“Dear Sweethearts” (1989)
When the Shulgins filed a letter they received, whether typewritten or composed on a word processor, they would often keep it with a copy of the letter that they had written to the same person. As we’ve focused on Sasha’s office, most of the correspondence we’ve found in books has been to and from Sasha. A few letters have been from Ann, such as this one we think was written to Darrell and Betty Lemaire, in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It was folded with a handwritten letter signed “Darrell & Betty”:
Both letters were tucked inside a bound copy of galleys of Drug Testing at Work: A Guide to Employers & Employees by Sebastian Orfali and Beverly Potter…
“Dear Sasha / Dear Sebastian” (1989)
Also tucked into Drug Testing at Work: A Guide to Employers & Employees were a letter to Sasha requesting comments on the book from its author, and Sasha’s two-page response:
“Dear Mr. Stewart” (1974)
Here, Sasha apologizes to an editor at Macmillan (a publisher) about having to drop a co-authored book project called Drugs and Life, but proposing a new book on the subject of peyote:
“Dear Sir / Dear Mr. Shulgin” (1973)
Sasha contacts the Department of Justice Office of National Narcotics Intelligence (ONNI) to inquire about “the structure and the goals of [their] office”:
…and receives a response within two weeks:
