so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person's sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one's parents, the parents' church and social pressure. I assume that my suggestion will evoke a reaction that your sexuality is at the core of who you are. The same is true for your son. He has a right to be accepted by his parents for being exactly who he is. The letter and response became a sensation after being posted on Upworthy and BuzzFeed and tweeted by George Takei. In an interview with GoPride.com, an LGBTQ website, Dickinson addressed the letter's popularity: I've been saying the same thing over and over and over again. What's interesting is that social media has changed the equation so much. I could probably find Q & As similar to this from years ago, but because there wasn't Twitter and Facebook and George Takei didn't have 5 million followers, it was just confined to people who read the newspaper. Now, oh my God, it's unbelievable. I actually heard from people who said that the letter wasn't real and that I planted that letter so it would go viral. My response is, 'If I could make something go viral, I would do every day.' It's in the very nature of virality, you can't make it happen. A book on every bed In 2009, Dickinson began asking her readers to wrap a book and put it on their children's beds on Christmas. Along with the Family Reading Partnership, "A Book on Every Bed" meant many children received books not only at Christmas but on birthdays or other holidays. Later, Dickinson made the idea a way to honor the memory of her mother on her birthday, December 23. Dickinson asked readers of her column to give a book to a child on Christmas or whatever day they celebrated. She said it could be new or a favorite book, but it should be wrapped at the foot of the child's bed. The parent should read the book to the child after it is unwrapped. In 2019, Dickinson joined with Children's Reading Connection, started in Ithaca, New York. Mushroom Controversy In 2022, Dickinson courted controversy with her response to a reader who asked if he overreacted when his camping buddies put mushrooms they could not identify into his food without his knowledge. The reader no