Letter ‘Kindles’ A Magical Response

By Nancy K. Crevier

“Dear Mr Kindle:

“As an elementary school teacher and avid reader, I am a regular customer of Amazon.com. I always shop Amazon first for my classroom and personal needs because of the huge variety of books available….”

So began Hawley School fourth grade teacher Lea Attanasio’s letter of April 22 to Amazon executives and Fred Kindle, as she began her quest to have a Kindle e-reader donated to her cross-generational book club in an attempt to maintain some of the senior citizen book buddies with deteriorating vision. What she did not know was that the letter and a case of mistaken identity would “kindle” a response that would put a glow in the hearts of all involved.

The Kindle is a wireless reading device sold through Amazon. Two of its features are the ability for the reader to increase the font size, and a “read aloud” element, both of which would be beneficial to the senior citizens with vision problems.

Three years ago, Ms Attanasio developed and started an in-school book club that joined her fourth grade class and local senior citizens. Several of the ten seniors are members of the Newtown Senior Center, others come from the Village at Brookfield Commons, and still others have grandchildren or young friends in the fourth grade class. The seniors range in age from their 60s to their oldest member, Phil Michel, who is 93 years old. The book group meets twice a month to discuss books that they have read together.

“It’s a great program and a lot of good things come out of it,” Ms Attanasio said. “The kids come to love the seniors and the seniors bring a new perspective to reading,” she said. But recently she was approached by one of the senior book club members who expressed that deteriorating vision might mean the end of participating in the book club. Another woman wanted to join, but because she has macular degeneration, a retinal eye disorder, she would need books on tape in order to take part. “I wanted the program to be accessible to everyone who would like to participate, but I wasn’t sure how it would be possible for adults with vision difficulties,” said Ms Attanasio.

When a friend showed her the Kindle electronic reader, though, Ms Attanasio was sure she had come upon the solution to the problem. “I was so impressed with many of the features — lightweight, changeable font size, and the read-aloud capacity and was surprised to hear how many titles are already available for downloading,” she said.

But at more than $200 apiece, she knew that she could not afford to buy a Kindle for the book club. She considered how to make it happen, though, and decided to write to Amazon soliciting a donation of the e-reader.

 “I googled Kindle Corporation, and I sent the letter to an Amazon executive and to Fred Kindle, asking if they would be willing to donate a Kindle to us. I heard back a week later from Amazon. Although they were impressed with the program, they were unable to give us a free Kindle,” Ms Attanasio said, a disappointing response that was quickly offset by the fortunate accident of contacting Fred Kindle.

That same day, she received a phone call from a woman named Ellen Gatti. “She explained that while [Fred Kindle] shared the name with Amazon’s Kindle, he had no association with the product,” laughed Ms Attanasio. She had reached the office of Clayton, Dubilier, & Rice, a private equity firm in New York City, said Ms Gatti, an executive assistant to the firm’s partners.

“I was really embarrassed, but I had just googled ‘Kindle Corporation’ thinking that was where the e-reader must originate and looking for someone to direct the letter to, and Fred Kindle’s name came up. It said he worked at some private equity group, but I didn’t think that was too odd,” Ms Attanasio said.

What Ms Gatti told the teacher next took her by complete surprise. Ms Gatti was so impressed with the program described in the letter that she had passed the letter around the office and asked if anyone would be willing to contribute to a fund to purchase the book club a Kindle.

“Then she told me that she had collected enough to buy two Kindles, and wanted to know if we wanted the smaller version or the larger version. I couldn’t believe it,” said Ms Attansio. “I don’t think they had any idea where Newtown, Connecticut, even is.”

A second phone call from Ms Gatti later that day left the Hawley teacher stunned. “She told me that people were ‘throwing money at her’ and that she now had enough money to buy three and perhaps by the end of the day, four, [Kindles],” Ms Attansio recalled. Any extra cash would be directed to the Hawley fourth grade cross-generational book club in the form of an Amazon gift card, for the purchase of books.

‘Everyone Loved The Letter’

The letter came to her attention, said Ms Gatti in a phone interview Monday, May 17, because she is the assistant to the partners from the London office when they are visiting New York. Fred Kindle is a partner based in London, she said.

“The letter came to my desk and I thought it looked interesting, just a number 10 envelope. We do get some complaint letters,” said Ms Gatti, “but I kept reading and it was so adorable. Lea had included a picture from The Newtown Bee with a story written by Eliza Hallabeck about the book club, and the overview of the program.”

She ran the letter past Mr Kindle, but he said that the firm received so many solicitations that they would have to say no to this request.

“I went home and thought about it and the next day I wrote to our managing partner, Kevin Conway, and asked if I could pass it around the office for donations. We don’t usually do this, because we don’t want to impose on the staff. But Kevin thought it was a great idea, and everyone loved the letter,” said Ms Gatti.

She also contacted Amazon, asking them to match the donation. After a lot of back and forth, with everyone she spoke with saying it was such a good idea, she finally got through to a woman there who told her it would not be possible to donate a Kindle unless Ms Attanasio was able to file paperwork as a nonprofit organization.

The 14 partners and staff at Clayton, Dubilier, & Rice, though, were undaunted. The final donations did provide enough for the purchase of four Kindles and a $60 gift card from Amazon.

“Our industry is kind of under the gun right now in the public opinion,” said Ms Gatti. “We’re seen as the ‘bad guys of Wall Street.’ So it was nice to be able to let people know our guys aren’t like that. It appealed to so many in our office because we have lots of personnel with young kids and we all have seniors in our families. Plus,” she said, “people loved the association with Fred Kindle’s name and the Kindle e-reader. They thought it was funny. We were able to put a smile on everybody’s face.”

The four Kindles and gift card are now in Ms Attanasio’s possession, and she will soon be leading a workshop to teach the seniors how to use the Kindle e-reader. “There are really some amazing, caring people in this world. It has been such a good lesson for the kids,” said Ms Attansio.

She traveled to New York City May 7 to personally express her gratitude, a tray of cookies in hand, and loaded down with thank you notes and PowerPoint presentations from the students. “It was so cute,” said Ms Gatti. “We had a little cheese and crackers reception for Lea and watched the PowerPoint presentations, and read the notes. We wouldn’t mind keeping in touch with the class to see how the club is doing,” she added.

“They were wonderful to me when I visited,” said Ms Attanasio. She is adamant that the office of Clayton, Dubilier, & Rice be publicly acknowledged for their generosity. “This is a truly incredible thing,” she said.

At the May 14 book club meeting, the next-to-the-last for this school season, Cristal Preszler, a parent who regularly assists during the book club, said that Ms Attanasio had announced the good news about the Kindles at the previous gathering. “I think that it is wonderful that people would do something so nice for people they didn’t even know, and it was such a random happening,” said Ms Preszler. A Kindle owner, Ms Preszler is also pleased to know that the seniors are so willing to embrace a new technology.

“I think it’s great that they’re doing a nice thing for seniors,” agreed fourth grade student Lacy Hein.

An Amazing Thing

Mildred Mayer, who has been a book buddy for all three years, praised Ms Attanasio’s efforts and added, “The amazing thing is that [the equity firm] did it out of the kindness of their hearts for people they don’t know at all. I’m 90 years old, and waiting for Lea’s class on the Kindle, because my eyes are going.”

Ms Attanasio is excited that none of the seniors will have to leave the book club because of difficulties with vision. “The benefits of this program are beyond just getting students to read more,” she said. “They learn how to be hosts and hostesses and that their friends don’t have to be 10 years old, just like them. They learn that they can enjoy spending time with someone even 82 years older than they are, and to appreciate people for whom they are.”

Most importantly, though, this year’s class has learned “that there are some amazing people in this world who give of themselves freely without expecting anything in return,” said Ms Attanasio. “I hope that [my students] can do this, as well.”