Sincerely, John Hughes

Alison Byrne Fields was a misunderstood teen who worshiped John Hughes. Who didn’t? The iconic teen angst writer/director, who died suddenly of a heart attack at 59 years old yesterday, was the lone cinematic voice that spoke to the Walkman epoch. But what makes Alison stand out from the generation of the misunderstood is that she let him know. One woebegone night in 1985, she decided to “pour her heart out” in a letter she mailed to him. She received a response: A welcome package to the Breakfast Club fan club. And that made her irate–and let him know. posted on August 8, 2009 at 12:39am EDT