Fans All Over the Country Send Best Wishes to Magic

Fans and well-wishers have swamped the Forum with more than 35,000 pieces of mail for basketball star Earvin (Magic) Johnson, who last week stunned the nation with the announcement that he is infected with the AIDS virus.

The mail, which has included everything from get-well cards to “safe socks” with pockets that hold condoms, is arriving at the rate of about 10,000 pieces a day and shows no signs of letting up, said Scott Diamond, a public relations assistant at the Forum in Inglewood, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“All these people want to send their love, praise and thanks to Earvin,” Diamond said. “They all basically want to say, ‘Get well soon.’ ”

The mail is stacked four boxes high along the walls of the publicity office at the Forum. Cartons crammed with thousands of letters are heaped on desktops, and posters are piled in postal tubes beneath chairs. Packages often include vitamins and holistic cures for the HIV virus.

Postmarks show the mail has come from across the United States, and many of the envelopes are addressed in the scrawl of small children. The parcels have included colorful posters and huge get-well cards from school classrooms. Indeed, much of the mail seems to be from youngsters struggling to understanding Johnson’s infection but eager to show support for their hero, Diamond said.

“I think the teachers feel that they can explain the situation better to the kids if they get a chance to write how they feel,” he said.

The Forum has a staff of five opening the letters and packages, but Diamond says the staff may need help from volunteers to handle the volume of mail. The mail will be opened at the Forum and then sent to Johnson.

“I have already spoken to volunteer organizations to help us out in opening the mail,” said Diamond, holding up a letter opener and finger scarred with paper cuts. “But it makes me happy to open this mail and do one small thing for him.”

Many of the letters encourage Johnson to have faith in God, and others praise his bravery in coming forward with the news of his infection.

Although most of the letters have been positive, Diamond says that a few negative ones have come in as well.

“Basically, most of these say things like ‘I’m a Celtics fan and I never liked you,’ Diamond said. “But even these are encouraging” with regard to his condition.

Diamond says that Johnson, who is now vacationing with his wife, is aware of the written support from all of his fans and plans to answer every piece of mail that has a return address on it.

“He is simply overwhelmed with all of the support,” Diamond said. “He knows we are all behind him.”