Stan Laurel letters on auction block

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Sometimes sad letters from the late English funny man Stan Laurel to a faithful fan are going up for auction in Scotland.

The packet of 18 letters and three photographs, most of them signed by Laurel, were written to Walterina Hunter of Edinburgh over a 10-year period starting in 1952. They are expected to fetch about $4,000 when sold Wednesday to the highest bidder by Scottish auction house Lyon and Turnbull, the BBC reported.

Writing from the luxurious hotels he stayed at while touring, Laurel confided to Hunter how he was "very upset" by the death of his comedic partner, Oliver Hardy, but that he didn't attend his funeral upon the advice of his doctor. Laurel suffered a nervous breakdown after Hardy died, the BBC said, and later wrote his pen pal that he no longer visited the movie studios "because I don't know anyone there and would feel like a stranger."

The pair only met once, in 1954, when Laurel and Hardy toured Britain and sent her tickets for their Edinburgh performance. Their correspondence ended in 1962, three year's before Laurel's death.