BE SILLY -
I am. It's what I do for a living and you're here because I do it well enough. Seriously, I love being silly for a living and I am pleased that, for whatever reason, you appreciate my silliness. I don't mean to diminish either my craft or your attention to it, but, in the final analysis, being silly isn't always easy and to be devoted to it is more demanding than most people realize. Here at CBFC, we are good at it. That's what makes it fun for everyone. I promise to keep being as silly as I can for you even if it makes you laugh, cry, or tremble; and you do your best to keep this fan thing in perspective. Like Movies and TV, it's silly but worthwhile.

BE HONEST -
I'm not going to answer fan mail. Too busy. I have a mortgage & bills, my daughter has homework, my son isn't out of diapers and my wife; though she can do anything, shouldn't have to do everything.
We have alternatives though.
Beth does regular interviews with me and is very conscientious about forwarding your always-thoughtful questions which I struggle to answer as articulately as possible. She then publishes them in the newsletter which has graduated to an on-line iteration that is easy to read and far more timely. If you need to catch up with some of the honestly silly things that have come out of my mouth over the past few years, you can do that by sifting through the archives. I'd love to sign everything with a personal inscription and send it back to you FedEx... But I won't. Can't afford it. The way we've addressed this, though, is brilliant. (remember, I'm just being honest here). We have signed pictures which you can BUY! They aren't cheap but they are good. And the most important reason to buy one is that we don't keep any of the money. It all... ALL of it... goes to charity. Which brings me to Ralph's last admonition...

BE KIND -
This is supposed to be a fun thing for all of us but it does require some effort.
Beth Blighton and Kim Lay are kind.
They have been very generous to devote so much time, thought, and sweat to what could be a very silly (though that's a good thing!) idle indulgence. The CBFC is much more, however.
Since its inception, over $10,000.00 has been raised to help different charities. That's kind.
We've sent money to help re-equip the crews working to clean-up the World Trade Center site after 9/11.
We've helped the Wright family pay for their daughter Madison's heart-transplant.
We've helped kids interested in careers in healthcare, public service, and journalism pay for school through our support of The Beth Brown Memorial Fund. And even though I would love to take credit for these kindnesses, I can't.
Even though I would like to lay all the credit for these kindnesses at Beth and Kim's feet because of all they do to make CBFC a fun/silly/honest/kind endeavor, it doesn't belong to them.
It belongs to you. All of you who have chosen to actively participate by joining the CBFC. The CBFC is doing some good and we hope to do even more. So if you can put up with dropping a few bucks every now and then for stuff like pictures and newsletters and so forth then we are happy to pass your generosity and good-will - your kindness - on to good causes like The Beth Brown Memorial Fund.

So there you are (and that's no matter where you go). Let's have some fun and do some good. Follow Emerson's advice and join the CBFC. Thanks for reading this.

Best Always,
Clancy Brown

You can also read Clancy's older Letter to the Fans.