CARE PACKAGES

On Memorial Day 1995, Christopher Reeve, better known as Superman, fell from his horse. His spinal cord was injured, resulting in paralysis from the chest down. In the weeks that followed, Reeve received dozens of letters from people he—d never met: letters of advice, sympathy, prayers, notes from kids (—I—m in second grade. Send me a picture of a salamander. Are you feeling all right?—), letters recommending pick-me-ups (—My cat has been a great source of comfort to me . . . . Maybe when you get out of the hospital you could get a cat,— from an equestrienne with a broken transverse vertebra), wishes of support from Blythe Danner, Jane Seymour, Hugh Grant, and other actors and actresses. Not all the letters Reeve’s wife Dana presents here are gems, of course, but in such a collection one excuses a few duds. A man in Williamstown, Massachusetts, sent the Reeves a quotation from Flora Thompson’s —Candleford Green—: —You are going to be loved by people you—ve never seen and never will see.— Here’s a fitting —thank-you— to those unseen lovers.