Showcase 2026 · Writing piece

Letters between John King and John Julian

An imagined correspondence between the Whydah's two youngest crew members — John King, the boy pirate, writes first, and John Julian, the teenage pilot, writes back. Both letters are handwritten and folded like real mail, signed in character. No student name is written on the work.

The letters

Transcribed with the students' wording, spelling, and punctuation preserved; letter case is normalized for legibility.

From John King

Dear Julian,

Hello, I heard you were young when you survived slavery. I'm a pirate who is also young. I am willing to give you gold, if you'd like. I would love to hear more about you.

Sincerely, John King

From John Julian

Dear John King,

Hello it's nice to hear from you. But your gold is not my property. I want to thank you for your offer but no thank you. You are younger than me. I heard that you wanted to know how I'm doing. I would love to hear more about you too. I'm doing good.

—Julian