<jats:p> This paper examines the "fan mail" received by C. Wright Mills from his readership to better understand the reasons for Mills' popularity as a public intellectual in the 1950s. The paper documents Mills' strategic use of magazines and penny press publishers, his deployment of vernacular stylistic forms to express political issues, and the responses of these fans. These writerly readers not only lauded Mills' efforts but offered their constructive criticism and personal testimony, which Mills sometimes incorporated back into his speeches and articles. Many letter writers assisted in the circulation of Mills' texts within other informal networks, thus shedding light on the political conjuncture of the 1950s. The paper also attends to the methodological and epistemological challenge of using such letters, typically used to study responses to popular cultural texts, for the study of intellectual history. </jats:p>