According to The New York Post, a previously unseen letter penned by the infamous Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was discovered in Ardsley, New York, just days before the first anniversary of his suicide in federal prison.
The letter was found in the childhood bedroom of Post reporter Jon Levine, who had written to Kaczynski in 2010 after completing a master's degree in political science at Columbia University.
Kaczynski, who was incarcerated at the notorious United States Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, responded to Levine's letter within a month. The correspondence, dated June 3, 2010, was written on a single sheet of yellow legal paper and addressed to "Jon A. Nonymous," a pseudonym Levine used for safety reasons.
In his letter, Kaczynski wrote, "Dear Jon: To answer your undated letter postmarked 5/25/10 you will find my advice in my new book titled 'Technological Slavery.'" He then requested a payment of $28.45 to his publisher, Feral House, Inc.
Kaczynski, who was responsible for a terror campaign of mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 others across the United States between 1978 and 1995, spent a significant portion of his letter criticizing Levine's handwriting.
"I hope I have your address right. I can read your return address either as 'Asaley' or 'Ardsley. . . . Ardsley seems more plausible. Its amazing how many letters I get from people who want a reply but dont seem to realize that I cant reply if I dont have their address. They write their return address so sloppily that its almost impossible to decipher," Kaczynski wrote. His own handwriting was precise and neat, reflecting his background as a Harvard-educated mathematician.
Levine, who had struggled with poor handwriting his entire life, felt insulted by Kaczynski's comments. At the time he wrote to Kaczynski, Levine was feeling lost and facing the possibility of an extended stay with his parents, a situation that would have made him a pioneer of a growing trend.
During this period, Levine sent approximately two dozen letters to some of America's most notorious criminals, all of whom were incarcerated in supermax facilities. He asked them for advice for a recent college graduate. Levine had vague ideas of compiling the responses into a book titled "Killer Advice," but this project never came to fruition.
Levine used a P.O. Box owned by his father as his return address for these letters. His father, who was unaware of Levine's project, reported that the arrival of Kaczynski's letter caused quite a commotion. When asked to comment on the matter, Levine's father declined.
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