In 7th grade, we all had to write a letter to our hero. Most kids in my class chose Michael Jordan or Bill Clinton. I, on the other hand, chose Mark Curry, aka TV’s Mr. Cooper. I absolutely LOVED “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” and I thought Mark Curry was the funniest person on the planet. The letter was basically me rehashing the plot of my favorite Mr. Cooper episode (the one where Coop and Vanessa think they won the lottery but they lose the ticket, so they go dumpster diving to find it, only to realize they were one number off — see, part of Mark’s secret formula was one of the numbers had to be your age, and it turns out Vanessa lied about her age to the cute lottery clerk). Anyway, no one else really heard back from their heroes. Cut to: a month later, I open up my mailbox and see this postcard. I was ECSTATIC. Made my whole year. It doesn’t seem like much, but as a kid who dreamed of getting into TV and comedy, that world felt a million miles away. And all of a sudden it didn’t. A real life comedy star had read my words and taken the time to send something back! It made things seem a little less impossible. I’ve kept this on my desk for 25 years (!!). I took it to college (yes, every single person in my dorm was like “why do you have that?”). Brought it with me to all my comedy jobs - the Onion, Late Night, the Tonight Show. Through it all, Mark Curry has been there, silently watching from behind my laptop. A comedy guardian angel if you will. I think of this postcard often. It’s a nice reminder of being young and just being a “fan” of stuff. It’s harder to do as you get older but I try. And @therealmarkcurry, if you ever read this, thank YOU!