LONDON - "Please pick up the phone."
That was the appeal Amy Winehouse's mother tucked into the pages of Britain's largest-selling newspaper, the News of the World, in an attempt to reach out to her troubled daughter, whose widely publicized drug and personal problems have overshadowed her success as one of Britain's most critically acclaimed singers.
"Many will wonder why I haven't run down to whatever hotel you're in, scooped you up and taken you home for a hot bath and a steaming bowl of chicken soup," Amy's mother, Janis Winehouse, wrote in a letter carried by the tabloid.
"This letter is my way of making sure that you know that - that all you have to do is come to us, Amy, and we'll do everything in our power to get you well again."
Winehouse, an admitted marijuana smoker, has been dogged by reports of continued drug use amid a flurry of cancelled concerts. She was recently spotted walking outside of her London home wearing a bra and jeans, with no shoes, looking distressed.
Her mother Janis said she and Amy's father had been "terrified" by the images.
"All I wanted to do was rush into those pictures and wrap you up in a big warm blanket," she said.
"Early fame has overwhelmed you, it's dizzied you and muddled your mind. For a moment, forget you're a superstar. You're also young and vulnerable, no stronger than any of the rest of us," she said.
"I want you back, and I'll make you fitter and stronger."
Winehouse, 24, recently cancelled all concerts and public appearances for the rest of the year on doctor's orders. Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, was ordered held in custody in London last month on charges stemming from a case in which he is accused of assaulting a barman in June.
Messages left with Winehouse's spokesman were not immediately returned. The News of the World did not give any details about how it obtained the letter, and Janis Winehouse could not be located for comment.
Winehouse's family has made public appeals to the singer in the past. Over the summer, Janis reportedly told another British tabloid, the Daily Mail, that her daughter was on a path of "self-mutilation." Around the same time, her father-in-law Giles Fielder-Civil urged fans to boycott the singer's records to force her to seek help for drug addiction, saying that she and her husband, his son Blake, were in "abject denial" about their problems.
