Hi everyone, What a terrific idea for a project that many of you might like to do! ----- Original Message ----- From: J M Alyea To: Karen Mitchell Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 7:34 PM Subject: Latest project Hi, Karen, Latest project: my 95-year-old aunt in Cortez came across a packet of letters that my dad wrote in 1928-29 and sent them to me. My dad and his cousin (ages 22 and 19) drove to California and on up the coast to Oregon, basically looking for work. As I read the letters, I was amazed -- I didn't know my dad could write so vividly! I decided that the contents needed to be shared with my daughter and our grandchildren. So I just finished six little books, the first of which went right out to Cortez. I made an introduction which explains who the letter writer was and what they were doing. I also did some research on the car they drove (a 4-cylinder "Star" at least a 1926 model, as that was the first year the 4-cylinder was made.) I even found a photo of a restored one on line. I typed out each letter, putting in my comments at the end, and a photo where appropriate (like the picture of San Diego Bay, near where our daughter stayed last October for a Marine Corps graduation). Dad also drew sketches of things now and then, and I scanned these and put them in, as well as a souvenir menu from a cruise ship which he sent in one letter. I did the project on Microsoft Word, but any good word processing program will work, if it allows pictures to be inserted. I use Photo Shop Elements to handle photos. If I get a picture off the internet (as I did with the old Star car), I save it on the desktop, then open it in Photo Shop. I scanned the drawings from Photo Shop, too, so I could sharpen and increase the contrast. This was a fun project! Now I wish someone would find some more old letters for me to play with! I had a real ball doing this, and the letters can now be shared without danger of getting lost or falling apart. Thought I would tell you about this and how much fun it was! Joan