Frank Warren reveals the secrets behind PostSecret.com

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Frank Warren is the founder of PostSecret.com, which has grown from an art project website to a book series; the fourth book, ‘A Lifetime of Secrets,’ was published last year. The idea, which Warren told me is embraced quickly by younger people but is somewhat harder for older generations to understand (his dad isn’t into it), is that people compose/design a postcard that reveals a closely held secret, then mail it, unsigned, to him at his house in suburban Maryland. Each week, he posts a selection of these confessions on the Web, releasing the secrets into the open. Since he began PostSecret in 2004, Warren has received hundreds of thousands of postcards.

Yesterday Warren visited the L.A. Times and shared some of the stories behind PostSecret with Jacket Copy.

Off-camera, Frank Warren noted that he’s been struck by the continued warmth and openness of the people who contribute to PostSecret and come to his speaking events on college campuses, where many stand up and reveal secrets in front of their friends and classmates.

Tonight, Frank Warren speaks at USC. People who attend may be invited to participate in the still-in-the-formulating-stages PostSecret movie. If you’d like to go, be warned, the secret is out — Facebook counts more than 2,500 confirmed attendees.

— Carolyn Kellogg