No, but I had a buddy in college who wrote a letter to the editor of the LA Times about Prop 13 or Ralph Nadar or some other local matter that was going on at the time. Our professor read the letter in his morning newspaper and my friend was in his graces forever. The professor read the letter in front of the class. I think we were studying the beat poets at the time and we both had a paper to present. He confessed to me that he didn't do any preparation and it was his last class for his BA degree. He showed up in class for his presentation, lit two candles and put them on the professor's desk, turned out the lights, put on his sun glasses, read from On The Road and asked the class to applaud at certain sections by snapping their fingers (you know, beatnik style). No analysis, no exposition, no paper. He got an A in the class. I was fucking pissed as the professor was known as an easy B but an impossible A. And I worked my ass off to get an A. But I had to laugh, my friend led a charmed life.
So moral of the story, writing letters to editors can be good if 1) you have a point to make, 2) it actually gets published, and 3) someone who can further your career reads it.