hmmm.  there didn't seem to be any items under which i could fit
this.  a pagan mailing list to which i subscribe recently contained
a message about gerina dunwich receiving a letter bomb.  (she's fine.
no one was hurt, fortunately.)  has anyone else heard anything similar?
i'm wondering if it's an urban legend.

11 responses total.

I have not heard about this.  Does she have a web site? Might be info there.

I saw the same e-mail that you did, but that's all I've heard.

you know, I received that, too, and hadn't thought to question it, but for
what it's worth, a Yahoo! search of "dunwich bomb" turns up nothing of note,
"gerina dunwich" turns up no news about a letter bomb, nor do "gerina dunwich
mail" or "gerina dunwich bomb".

That's not to say that it didn't happen, but it seems odd that someone as
high-profile in the mainstream as she is (not a household name, but one of
the better known names) wouldn't get at least a blurb somewhere... hmmm...

Ok...who is she?  Any theories as to why she'd get letter bombed.  I 
don't think I've annoyed nearly enough people or been quite brilliant 
enough to merit a letter bomb.  ;P

A quick visit to WitchVox shows no articles in the last two weeks
about anyone getting a letter bomb.  And you'd think Wren would
consider that important enough to post.  >8)

Re 4 - I did find some pages on AltaVista mentioning her.  Seems
to be yet another author who write lots and lots of books for
beginners, and sells them to Llewelyn.

She's one of Llewellyn's stable, yes, but one of the more competent ones.
Something of an expert on herbs, I gather.

the other question: Why would someone want to HOAX something like this? A
sense of self-importance? To make Wicca seem more important/incindiery/opposed
than it really is? Since Kaczynski's fine missive, the USPS has been pretty
strict about keeping mail to minimal sizes or inspecting it, so I'd be
surprised if something like this really DID happen... but why make it up?

        Perhaps someone mis-heard "mail bombed" for "letter bombed".

Re 7: Not a bad guess - but the e-mail from the author does specify that 
it was a package sent through the postal service.

Alas, I've deleted the several copies of the message I've gotten, or I 
would post it here.

Sorry about the sloppinees, it's been forwarded a few times

From: Rmato@aol.com
Reply-To: kypaganforum@egroups.com
To: kypaganforum@egroups.com
Subject: [KyPaganForum] Re: Wiccan writter receives letter bomb -
 fwd
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 10:17:04 EDT

This was forwarded from another list.  Be aware.
--------------------
Dear Friends:

Today I received a most disturbing note from a fellow Wiccan 
author,
Gerina
Dunwich.  The text is included below.  Gerina received a letter 
bomb in
her
post office box.  Fortunately it did not detonate and no one was
injured.
Please examine your incoming mail very carefully.  Letter bombs 
are bulky
as
they must contain sufficient plastic explosive to be effective, yet a
little
can do a lot of damage.  Some plastic explosives are the thickness 
and
roughly the consistency of linoleum, others resemble putty or
plasticine.
These substances tend to leave stains from the solvents in them 
on the
packaging material or envelope.  If you are not expecting a 
package or
do
not
recognize the return address, be especially cautious.    The 
package
that
Gerina received was post-marked Columbus, Ohio, but there is no 
telling
whether the suspect(s) will use this fake return address more than 
once. 
If
in doubt, call the authorities immediately rather than taking a 
chance. 
DO
NOT OPEN suspicious packages under any circumstances.  
Handle it as
little
as
possible.

If anyone has any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Bright Blessings
Kerr Cuhulain


PS:  This is the text of Gerina's letter:
Dear Kerr Cuhulain,

I felt I should bring a certain matter to your attention since you are
involved in law
enforcement and workshops to educate the public. I was the 
recipient of
a
letter
bomb this past weekend. It was postmarked Columbus, Ohio and 
sent to my
post
office box. Luckily no one was hurt. I suspected there was 
something
strange
about
the package and handed it over to the postmaster, who in turn 
notified
the
police and
bomb squad. The matter is now under investigation but I've been 
informed
that
the
chances are slim that they will be able to find out who sent it, since
the
return address
was obviously a fake one and whoever sent it was probably very 
careful
not
to
leave
fingerprints. I do not know anyone in Columbus, Ohio (except for 
AJ Drew
of
Salem West) and I have no personal enemies that I know of. I do 
not know
if
I
am being targeted personally or am just one name of many on this 
mad
bomber's
list , but I think that all Wiccan/Pagan/Occult authors and public
figures
should be aware and very cautious whenever they receive a 
suspicious
package
in the mail from someone they do not know - especially if it 
postmarked
from
Columbus, Ohio!   Take care.

Blessed Be,
Gerina Dunwich
If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world
 peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the
looting started.

Update:
for those of you who didn't receive the new email rash, here's the dish:
There was no bomb. There never was a bomb. Gerina received a suspicious
letter, she had her husband take it down to the post office, who sniffed it,
shook it, and decided it wasn't tassty.  Her husband came back and told her
it was "under investigation by police," and so she spread the word far and
wide that she'd gotten a letter bomb, getting rather free with details about
the type of explosive, etc. Her husband later admitted that the USPS had
simply discarded it, because it wasn't a bomb at all. 

Kerr Cuhulain proceeded to bawl Gerina out, saying that her act of hysteria
would be considered Public Mischief in his jurisdiction (yes, he's a real
police officer), and that in the future, she should call 911 when she gets
a suspicious package, rather than sending her hubby down to the USPS with a
package that could blow his hand off.

I have added my own editorializing to this account. Live with it.

        I have to admit, that's about the stupidest thing I can concieve of
doing with a letter bomb (unless you don't like your husband), short of saving
it for the Fourth of July as an extra firework.

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