Most people can’t remember the last time they sat down to write a letter not an email or a cover letter, but a real, personal letter. For College of Arts and Sciences senior Elizabeth Buckley, it was at summer camp, writing back to her parents. School of Management freshman JJ Wu Chang said he has never actually written a letter.

Though writing letters may seem unnecessary, many mourn the demise of the personal note. Some defenders of the stamp argue that it is still important to put pen to paper, even though it may be more convenient to hit ‘send.’

Boston University art history and English professor Bruce Redford said letters are not a conduit for information, but a conversation between writer and recipient.’

In the introduction to his book on letter writing in the 18th century, ‘The Converse of the Pen,’ Redford quotes Samuel Richardson, who describes letters as ‘more pure, yet more ardent, and less broken in upon, than personal conversation can be even amongst the most pure.’

Redford said people judge premeditated thought as artificial, and ‘we value what seems to be off-the-cuff.’ In reality, ‘the most significant kind of communication between friends is stylized,’ Redford said.

In the 18th century, the recipient, not the sender, had to pay the postge for the letter.’ ‘Letter writers took particular pains to quite literally write a letter worth paying for,’ Redford said.

Careful diction is what makes letters important.’ ‘I take pains in the words I choose,’ Redford said about his own letter-writing style.

Beyond the simple act of conveying information, letters contain a unique interpretation of events, Redford said. The author not only needs to filter out what information warrants mention, but needs to place the information in a larger context.

Both of Redford’s parents were diplomats and he spent his childhood in the Far and Middle East. Redford’s mother regularly penned long letters to her parents. By the age of 8, Redford was sending his own correspondence.

‘I get intense pleasure now from going back and re-reading a letter my mother sent me decades ago,’ Redford said.’ ‘[It] opens a window into the past.’

When the Internet gained popularity about 15 years ago, Redford saw some spillover between letter writing and emailing. He had thought the art of letter writing would live on in a new form of communication. ‘I was quite optimistic,’ Redford said. ‘I don’t believe that anymore.’

Emails are highly condensed, reflecting a move toward text messaging and away from the letter.’ Redford said he receives few substantial emails, though he will occasionally find one worthy of printing and saving as if it were a letter.

Not everyone delights in writing letters but they do have some value to researchers and archivists because of their ability to last for decades, unlike mysteriously disappearing e-mails.

Tracing the correspondence of an artist enables the reader to see what affected an artist’s work and to trace his development as an artist.’

At the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, letters are carefully preserved for research and displayed. Associate Director Sean Noel said letters can transport the reader to a new time.

‘It can be very exciting to have that moment of history,’ Noel said. ‘You are there for that moment.’

There will always be some people who ‘need to have the immediacy of pen and paper,’ Noel said.

Noel said letters are still a part of his daily life and were important to him growing up.

‘My heart was first broken by a letter, I’m sure,’ he said.

Noel said he urges his daughter to learn the basics of letter writing, even though she’d rather use email.’

‘You take more time to formulate your thoughts when you don’t have the ‘send’ button staring at you,’ he said. ‘But email’ doesn’t seem real.’

Email and letters are essentially just ‘different facts of our need to communicate,’ Noel said.’

BU sociology professor Julian Go said that the fading popularity of letter writing is a concern, but not a calamity.

‘It probably will be a lost art, but it’s going to be replaced with a new art,’ Go said. ‘The art of texting is pretty cool, if you ask me.’

The preference for email is a reflection of our culture, Go said, ‘a culture that accelerates time and space experiences.”

‘Even if we wanted to resuscitate the lost art of letter writing, we wouldn’t have the time,’ Go said.’

Go said he is concerned about historical records, which for years relied on letter writing; the national archives only just started saving old computer documents.

Kathy Zadrozny, who owns a stationery store, and her friend Donovan Beeson created the Letter Writers Alliance nearly three years ago. The club has since attracted more than 500 letter-loving members worldwide.

‘You get across a lot more information than if you were talking,’ Zadrozny said.’ ‘You’re more likely to say things you didn’t even know you thought.’

Emails lack the form and structure of a letter, which demand the reader’s attention. Readers also tend to skim through emails, pick out the necessary information and hit delete.’

‘I’ve never skipped through a letter,’ Zadrozny said.