Dear Snake,

I haven’t played your game in at least 15 years. What’s been going on in your life since the 1980s?

Deborah Schiff,
Mountain View, Calif.

Dear Deborah,

Thanks for playing! I had to leave the video game industry when my length exceeded the amount of memory that could be stored on cartridges or game disks at the time.

I moved to Montana and have been living on a very large plain where my size is not an issue and I can roam around as I like.

Thanks for writing,
Snake

Dear Snake,

I have a seven-year-old son and would love it if he could play a game featuring you. Do you have any plans to appear in any upcoming titles we could play, maybe on the Nintendo Wii, together?

Pete Jefferson,
Alexandria, Virginia

Dear Pete,

When I left the videogame industry, I can’t say it was completely without acrimony. I faced constant discrimination because of my size and when I left, I was very, very depressed for a long time. I don’t think I would want to go back to that world.

Also, I would rather people remember me for the snake that I was in the ’70s and early 1980s.

Give your son a big tight hug for me and thanks for playing.

Snake

Dear Snake,

Did they figure ever figure out what was causing you to grow so quickly and run around so fast in those old videogames? I always wondered if it was intentional on your part.

Rock on, Snake!

Chester Moore,
Boston, Mass.

Dear Chester,

Thanks for your letter. I knew at the time that my condition was a combination of a thyroid issue as well as unchecked overeating and (what I now know to be) bipolar disorder. Something else I found out years after my career ended was that designers of the game (who shall remain nameless) intentionally programmed the game to make me grow even faster.

Needless to say, they put my health at great risk and I’m lucky to be alive today.

Thank you for writing and God bless,
Snake