Give Notice, Offer Thanks: How to Say Goodbye

Hollywood was titillated on Aug. 18 as a departing William Morris Agency assistant's farewell message to his colleagues made the rounds of mock-scandalized email forwards.

The letter, which offered a glimpse into the usually secretive world of talent agencies, was naturally discussed ad nauseum -- it was such a slow news week that the tempest-in-a-teapot even made the L.A. Times on Aug. 25.

While the letter itself offered more heat than dish -- it outlined such "rare" events as attempting to pick up a colleague at a holiday party and making a fool of oneself with a celebrity -- it did succeed in bringing up a juicy morsel of etiquette: the art of saying goodbye. ...