Friendship, love and an amazing ‘Valentine’ tribute involving some of the world’s most famous people

Who knew?

It’s a Valentine’s Day story.

But it happened 37 years ago on someone’s 40th birthday.

Pull up a chair.

On January 24, 1983, the Michigan mailbox of Kathleen “Kate” Ervin exploded with 100-plus birthday wishes from some of the world’s most famous people.

Even England’s imperious Queen Elizabeth dispatched a note via her lady-in-waiting.

So why would Ervin, at the time a legislative aide living in that state’s capital in Lansing, become the recipient of such highfalutin letters?

Well, simply put, it was the result of a five-month secret mission to honor Ervin conducted by Penny Stump, who wanted to show her love for her best friend.

“I wanted to send her a special Valentine on her birthday,” said Stump, who is also a friend of mine from my college days. “To do something as special as she is — something she would never forget.”

Included in the cache of caring were notes from actress Jane Fonda; Pope John Paul II; country music star Willie Nelson; legendary feminist Gloria Steinem; actor Alan Alda; food legend Julia Child; TV news colossus Walter Cronkite; British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; President Ronald Reagan, and New York Times columnist Russell Baker.

So over a glass of wine with a dry martini chaser, Stump’s story of honoring her friend became a tale of doing things in a BIG way before the internet — unaided by a clicker and a mouse!

It required Stump to take a typewriter in hand and dispatch hundreds of letters to managers of celebrities requesting their help in getting their clients to send “a tremendous admirer” a special birthday memento.

“I wrote to 300 people and over 100 responded,” Stump said. “I figured I had a five-month window to get it done.”

Before it was over, Stump thumbed through telephone directories; hit libraries, bookstores, movies, and record stores to access addresses of publishers, recording companies, agents and political offices; then sent letters accompanied by requests to forward letters to their clients.

So who responded?

• Jane Fonda sent an autographed photo wishing Ervin a happy birthday — and sent Stump a note that read: “You must be a wonderful friend to do something like this.”
• “Ms.” Gloria Steinem autographed a photo with a note: “For Kate on her birthday — from someone older!”
• Alan “MASH” Alda, star of the hit Korean War TV sitcom, sent a two-word birthday wish on an autographed photo: “Kathleen-Peace.”
• Cookbook guru Julia Child dispatched a somewhat irritating, high-toned letter to Stump via her TV producer, which stated: “I’m awfully sorry, but it will be impossible for Mrs. Child to respond to your friend’s birthday. Mrs. Child is in California taping a news series and writing another book, and there is just not time for thoughtful gestures when one is working an 18-hour day. I hope your friend has a nice birthday anyway. Mrs. Child has just reached the milestone age of 70!”
• Walter Cronkite, famous for ending his news reports with “And that’s the way it is ...,” sent a birthday milestone note directly to Ervin, which ended: “And that’s the way it is, Monday, Jan. 24, 1983.”
• Pope John Paul II dispatched a note via the Vatican’s secretariat of state, which read: “He [the Pope] wishes me to assure you that he has prayed for the person you had recommended to him.”
• Margaret Thatcher, Willie Nelson, Ronald Reagan and Russell Baker dispatched autographed pictures and kind notes.

“It became a wonderful game involving my whole family sprinting daily to the mailbox,” said Stump, who put the responses in an album she gave to Ervin.

It’s something Ervin will never forget. “I treasure that album of birthday greetings and wonder how I ever could have deserved such a wonderful friend,” Ervin said.

But the story has a snooty kicker: the letter — dispatched by Queen Elizabeth from Sandringham Estate via her lady-in-waiting — bowing OUT of Stump’s royal request!

It read: “I am commanded by the queen to write and thank you for your letter. I have to explain to you that it is her majesty’s rule only to send messages of congratulations to those of her own subjects who are celebrating their diamond wedding [60th anniversary] or who have attained their centenary [100th].

“The queen is, therefore, unable to do as you ask.”

Who knew?

Provided photo

Lipinski lore . . .

On the heels of his House vote Thursday on the Equal Rights Amendment, watch for Congressman Dan Lipinski to announce endorsements from nearly 50 female elected officials in his district giving him high marks for his legislative work for equal pay for women and discrimination protection.

• Mom memento: While speaking on the House floor, the normally reserved Lipinski told a story about his mother, RoseMarie Lipinski, 81, who postponed a college career to raise her children.
• Backshot: RoseMarie waited until Lipinski finished grade school to go back to school. Once Lipinski went off to college at Northwestern University, she went to Georgetown University and earned a law degree.

Sneedlings . . .

I spy: Rapper Post Malone spotted at TAO nightclub Wednesday night after his show at the United Center. . . . Reality TV star Tinsley “Real Housewives of New York” Mortimer recently at RPM Seafood. . . . . Saturday’s birthdays: Amber “Glee” Riley, 34; and actress Jane Seymour, 69. . . . . Sunday’s birthdays: Rapper The Weeknd, 30; Chicago Bulls’ Coby White, 20; entertainer Ice T, 62; Janice “the world’s first supermodel” Dickinson, 65, and a belated birthday wish to Tom Grusecki, ageless.