When I was in elementary school, I used to ride my bike down these endless drainage ditches in my neighborhood with my friends after school. We'd find all kind of things down there: old Playboys, fireworks, toys, tools, exotic animals like box turtles and six-inch long cockroaches, and a long list of other treasures. We weren't playing with trash. What we found were treasures. My friends and I got a kick out of going on these "treasure hunts." We never knew what we'd find. And we always found something valuable in our little eyes. Who wouldn't be excited about finding a still-working Atari 2600 with a Pitfall cartridge in it? Well, at least we got excited about finding stuff like that. It was pure fun for us.

And it's fun for Davy Rothbart too. Davy is one of the creators of FOUND Magazine, collecting and cataloging found notes, photos, and other interesting items in a zine that gives a peek into the private lives of others. It's an intriguing and voyeuristic trip to read these notes, letters, and other things that were definitely not intended for a wide audience. His FOUND items have also been cataloged in books and on a web site. There is also a magazine called DIRTY FOUND, which catalogs the same type of items but of a more salacious nature. The web site features a "Find of the Day" and also offers a way for people to submit their FOUND items. And Davy has gone on nation-wide FOUND tours, reading favorite finds and asking audiences to bring their own finds to share.

According to wikipedia.org, "The seeds of FOUND Magazine were planted when co-creator Davy Rothbart found the now infamous "Page Me Later" note mistakenly left on his windshield in Logan Square, Chicago. Intrigued and amused, Davy shared this peek into someone else's private life with his friends." He and his buddy Jason Bitner began soliciting other found items from their friends. They photocopied the items and took the compiled zine to Kinko's to make copies. Unexpectedly, they were given quite a bit more than they ordered from an employee who enjoyed their zine. So they gave the excess copies to some local bookstores and found that there was an appetite for their magazine. The rest is history.

Q: What is it about looking at stuff that people have FOUND that is so much fun?

• I think it's a thrill to get a glimpse into other people's lives, to touch strangers in their most private, un-self-conscious moments, and to see that many times they're not so different from us.

Q: What is your favorite FOUND item that someone has sent in to you?

• I probably have a new favorite every two or three days as I open up the new mail! But one recent favorite is this dollar bill with a message written on in marker: "For an awesome time, call Rhonda," with a phone number in Florida. I called the number and the woman who answered said that she was Rhonda. I figured someone was playing a joke on her and had put her number on the bill. I said I was looking for an awesome time, and she asked sort of guardedly what I meant. We got to talking. She claimed not to know anything about the message on the dollar, but at the same time, was curiously eager to talk. It was an odd but pretty interesting little conversation.

Q: Did you lose something as a child that you wish someone would find and send back to you?

• A dime. I once lost a dime, and was sure my older brother Mike had found it and kept it. To this day, I still always ask him, "Where's my dime? You owe me a dime!" And to this date he denies any knowledge of it. Maybe he and Rhonda need to join forces.

Q: Have you been contacted by an individual claiming that a FOUND item is actually theirs and requested that you send it back to them?

• Once. In Found #3, there's a series of letters from the 1980's between a Brown University student who's studying abroad and her boyfriend back in Providence. The woman got in touch and asked for all the letters back - so of course we returned them! We even had a savings bond and other important papers of hers.

Q: Found Magazine #5 was supposed to be out in the fall/winter of 2006. What gives?

• It'll be out later this spring. We've had so many amazing finds pouring in, this'll be the dopest issue yet! It's the Crime Issue. My bad on the lateness, I just got caught up working on some other writing and video projects, and some new radio pieces for This American Life.

Q: I love the situation setups for the items in FOUND Magazine. In most cases, they help you look past things that would make a reader critical of the item like misspellings, grammatical errors, etc. With the letters and notes you've FOUND, you seem to have an extraordinary amount of empathy for the authors. Why is that?

• 'Cuz I been there too.

Q: What are your criteria for declaring something "FOUND?" Does it have to be from an anonymous source? Or can it be something that someone you know didn't want you to find?

• I feel like anything that gives you a glimpse into someone else's life qualifies. One friend of mine is a purist; she says it has to be blowing down the street. I said to her, trying to be a smart aleck, "What if it's just laying on the street," and she said, "No! It has to be blowing!"
  
  I advocate a broader definition of Found. For example, sometimes a schoolteacher will pick up a note one of their students wrote... they might know who wrote it, but if it still gives them a better sense for that person, that's what the Found experience is about. It doesn't have to be a stranger. One kid sent in a series of Post-It notes that his parents wrote - he said they only communicated by Post-It notes. It's not a mystery who wrote these notes, but when we read the, we get a fascinating insight into his parents' relationship.

Q: Projects like FOUND and PostSecret have huge, faithful communities of readers and contributors. What is it about projects like these that are so compelling to the people who want to be involved with them?

• I think it's exciting to be part of a giant collaborative art project - to know that the project would not exist without thousands of people contributing from every corner of the globe. And the finds themselves - and PostSecret's postcards - are absolutely captivating.

Q: What is the biggest misconception that people have about you?

• That I still carry a gun.

Q: Best cure for a hangover?

• Bell's Pizza.

Q: Philosophy to live by?

• A walk's as good as a hit.

Q: If you could be reincarnated, what would you like to come back as?

• A pelican.

Q: If you could play a professional sport, which would it be and what position would you want to play?

• Point guard for the Detroit Pistons.

Q: Are you a spiritual person?

• Yeah, sometimes. Spiritual but not religious.

Q: If your life were turned into a movie, which actor would play you?

• Chris Tucker

Q: If you were trapped on a deserted island, what three things would you need to survive?

• A boombox, a cassette tape of LL Cool J's Bigger and Deffer, and a hundred bucks.

Q: What words of wisdom did your father share with you? Was it good advice?

• Buy low, sell high. Yes, yes it was.

Q: If you were a superhero, who would you be?

• Chauncey Billups.

Q: Who or what inspires you?

• Seventeen-year-old kids pimping their rap CDs on the street in Times Square.

Q: What does the future hold for Davy Rothbart?

• Pimping my rap CD on the street in Times Square.
  
  Also, a huge FOUND Magazine party at SXSW in Austin on Thursday, March 15th! Free booze, great music (Okkervil River, Great Lakes Myth Society, The Walkmen, Tally Hall), lots of FOUND fun. 1:00 - 5:30 pm at Bourbon Rocks. RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Peace!

---

Tag this article: