Great tales of David Bowie's good nature flooded out after his death too, but we've known about his letter to his first American fan since 2009, after it appeared on the excellent Letters of Note site.I love this: "measured, charming, excited and poignant."
It's a wonderful thing - a measured, charming, excited and poignant response, written in 1967, to a 14-year-old called Sandra Dodd from New Mexico, whose uncle had given her a promotional copy of Bowie's first album (he worked at a radio station).
"When I called in this, my manager's office, a few moments ago I was handed my very first American fan letter - and it was from you. I was so pleased that I had to sit down and type an immediate reply," Bowie begins, before answering questions Sandra had asked about his real name, birthday, height, and whether he'll ever visit America.
"Thank you for being so kind as to write to me and do please write again and let me know some more about yourself," the letter ends.
It's the second item here, but I will point out again that he was not yet a famous musician when the letter was written.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/ec553f4f-cf1b-4912-b9b5-a98ddfe8d6c6#
The letter and notes on my site: http://sandradodd.com/bowieletter/
