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Recently I received the most delightful email from a fan. The subject line read, “Glad to read your article.” The From line said Marian Bartlett, the mother of one of my high school classmates. High school was, uh, well let’s just say decades ago. For the record, my column also runs in The Courier, the newspaper in my small-town hometown of Russellville, Arkansas. Thanks to Travis Simpson and this delightful newspaper, I make the claim that I am nationally syndicated.
Marian went on to say, “I enjoyed your article in the Courier Democrat so much.” Oh, I danced at her words! She went on to tell me that her daughter, my classmate, Nancy Bartlett St. Pierre was coming through Russellville to take her daughter, Lillie, to the University of Arkansas. She also filled me in on some local Russellville history. Marian’s uncle, Harry Robinson, was editor and publisher of the Courier when she went to Arkansas Tech University. They were some of the first people to live at the Rebecca Apartments on Main Street. After an auto accident claimed her father’s life, Marian and her mother and sister lived with Harry Robinson and his family in Fort Smith. He was a friend of J. W. Hall, the president of Arkansas Tech. Harry urged Marian to come to Russellville. She went on to say that she has never regretted the decision and she still enjoys that wonderful town.
Marian ended her email with the words, “I am proud of you. Continued success to you. Love, Marian Bartlett.” Oh, my heart!
I just love fan mail! Probably because I don’t get a lot—twenty-five emails a month, at most. And all from wonderful fans praising my writing skills. But Marian’s email forced me to accept the realization: my fans are a bit older than me. Okay, about twenty years older than me, if we’re being real.
It makes sense that my newspaper readers are a couple decades (or so) older—we all know kids today don’t read the printed word. Newspaper subscribers are, on average, sixty years and older. Silver-haired fans stop me and thank me for my humorous and colorful articles. But I wanted to believe my book fans were younger. Through my fan emails I’ve learned that’s not really true. Most people who read my books fit the demographic profile of women between the ages of sixty and eighty.
Why though? Why should I care? If I had young fans, people under forty who Tiktok’d and Pinterest’d and X’d, then what would I do? I barely Instagram, and that’s saying a lot, quite frankly. I’ve managed reels and stories, and everyone is super impressed. Everyone over the age of fifty, anyway.
No, I like my fan base older than me—it keeps up the illusion that I’m someone worth reading. But seriously, please email me and let me know what’s going on in your life. How’s the weather, how are your grandkids, how’s your bursitis? Inquiring minds want to know!
Jann Goar Franklin graduated Russellville High School in 1989. You can reach her at jann@jannfranklin.com