How to Be A Fan

There are so many people's work I admire. Not just song writers/artists, movie stars, but also novelists, non-fiction writers, scientists, lots of people. I think rock stars must be sick to death of screaming fans and tired of doing the same songs over and over like automatons. How do you tell people you admire them and do they even care what some stranger's opinion is? Truly creative people are not influenced by money so buying their products is not that great a token of admiration. Collecting autographs seems rather stupid - to waste seconds of their life that could be spent on creation - proof for the fan that they stole some time. So how do I tell Bernard Malamud that his book, The Fixer moved me to tears, or tell Annie Lamott that her book Bird by Bird was delicious, or Gary Larson that The Far Side is like Mark Twain reincarnated in cartoon or thank Robert Whitaker for sticking up for schizophrenics in Mad in America. I think the computer has given us the means to be a good fan. We can write reviews on Amazon - actually put a little effort into saying thank you. I don't know how to thank the scientists and I should buy more local art.