A letter postmarked Nov. 20, 1953, from Grantland Rice II -- a nephew of the famous Murfreesboro sports writer, Grantland Rice -- and sent to Miss Louise Snowden of Birmingham, Ala., appeared in Tennessean editor Mark Silverman's mail Wednesday, The Tennessean reported.
The nephew was a sports reporter with the Tennessean back then.
The letter, in a Tennessean envelope, was marked "return to sender" apparently after someone recently found it and put it in the mail. Because it had insufficient postage -- a 3-cent stamp -- it was returned to sender, the newspaper said.
Rice and Snowden were engaged at the time the letter was sent, and were married until Snowden's death due to a stroke at age 79 in 2008.
Rice's reaction when he learned of the letter was, "I bet it was a 3-cent stamp."
In the letter, Rice tells Snowden of covering a football game in bad weather, of his late dinner after meeting a deadline, and of a worn-out bed sheet. He closed on a tender note, looking forward to traveling soon to see Snowden in Birmingham and speaking of their plans to buy furniture and an engagement ring.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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