Over the years Carl Barks wrote thousands of letters to hundreds of people. Of course, most of them span the time when he was known to the public - primarily his comic book fans - and these contain receipts for well-meant accolades as well as responses to professional questions. Barks made a point of answering all of his comprehensive mail (with the exception of thousands of greeting cards) the best he could, and it must have taken him countless hours that he could have used as valuable work time instead. Still, it was important to him to maintain good relations with his endlessly growing number of fans. From time to time the answering of letters became so overwhelming that Barks had to resort to printed form letters in order to catch up on his workload, but he preferred to respond to his letters in a thorough, detailed, and personal way.
In 1999 Barks was diagnosed with Lymphocytic Leukemia (also known as Cronic Lymphoid Leukemia), which is basically a cancer in the white blood cells. This potentially terminal disease slowly shut down Barks' work activities including his massive letter writing ending with printed letters sent to a few selected persons. These last letters are published here for the first time.

The very subject of publishing a seriously sick man's last, official letters is, of course, highly sensitive but it has been decided to include them for a number of reasons:
1. This website aims to publish all relevant (but not absolutely personal!!!) material describing all aspects of the great man's life, 2. Barks published the letters for people to learn how he felt, in fact, they may be perceived as a form of medical bulletins, 3. Barks was quite open about his illness; the very fact that he purposely used a new photo of himself in an unflattering light speaks volumes in itself, and 4. One of the letters has already been circulating the Internet for years.

Still, if you do not wish to know about Barks' last, strenuous months through his own letters you should consider leaving this page...