FOUND Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Tour!

By harmonleon April 16, 2012 7:56 pm Posted in Features harmonleon g+ page

Are you guys familiar with FOUND Magazine? The brainchild of Ann Arbor residents Davy Rothbart and Jason Bitner, this has got to be the very best periodical to come out of Ann Arbor to feature found notes, letters, photos, and other out-of-context items that sing life’s sad and beautiful song. A virtual cavalcade of homework assignments, birthday cards, poetry on napkins, and love letters–found in garbage cans or on floors of bars–portray a rare glimpse into a complete strangers’ lives. The FOUND crew has cultivated these treasured findings in their magazine, books and website. And believe or not, FOUND is having their 10th anniversary this year.

The humor of FOUND hits me in the right place, as a mirror held up to the strange, hilarious, and heartbreaking rantings that comprise the human journey accidently left in public spaces, leaving us to figure out the puzzle behind its meaning. (I can’t even imagine what someone would think if they found one of my notebooks.)

For example, this was found by Olive Shaner in Atlanta, GA. A crisp $20 bill to anyone who can explain the full backstory:

Courtesy of FOUND

Same unanswered questions with this list found in a classroom at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis:

Not all of FOUND is hilarious. Take this letter that was found found at an estate sale, inside a book called A Walk Across America:

FOUND is celebrating that 10th Anniversary with a cross country tour. The crew will be heading off on a grandiose tour with a rousing and rollicking FOUND show covering 75 cities in 37 states .

Check out the FOUND site to see when the “My Heart is an Idiot” is coming to your town.