Laura Cameron on Substack
The Letter-Opener
Stories from the letters — the history, the humor, and the human detail behind Your Loving Son, Ronie
Every letter has
a story behind it
The Letter-Opener is Laura Cameron’s free Substack newsletter — a place to share the stories that didn’t quite fit in the book’s appendices. Each issue takes one thread from Ronie’s letters and pulls it: a bit of 1940s slang, a radio show in-joke, a moment of Home Front ingenuity, an unfamiliar place explained.
Published regularly, it’s free to read and free to subscribe. No algorithm, no advertising — just letters, history and the occasional latrine-dash cartoon.
Latest from
The Letter-Opener
#25. Don’t Touch That Dial!
Join me in spending a spring 1944 evening beside the radio, as ordinary families like my Dad's tune in as Baby Snooks asks "Whyyyy?" and Fred Allen interrupt...
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#24. All Hands on Deck in New York City’s Shipyards
Yards all around the harbor labored to produce vessels for some unexpected customers
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#23. Reflections on farewells to treasured pets
Standing on the near-shore of the Rainbow Bridge, I bade adieu to the noble, gentle Tiomkin
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Issue art: birthday buttons
Ronie’s bugle cartoon
The latrine dash — Army humor at its finest
Keep Punching — Home Front propaganda
Join the Letter-Opener
Every issue is free. No algorithm decides what you see — it arrives in your inbox on publication day, and you can read it at your own pace, like a letter.
Subscribers also get early notice of events, book club visits, and new discoveries from the archive.
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