In LaTeX, how can one add a header/footer in the document class Letter?

Question

In LaTeX, how can one create a document using the Letter documentclass, but with customized headers and footers?

Typically I would use:

\usepackage{fancyhdr}

\pagestyle{fancy}
\lhead{\footnotesize \parbox{11cm}{Custom left-head-note} }
\lfoot{\footnotesize \parbox{11cm}{\textit{#2}}}
\rfoot{\footnotesize Page \thepage\ of \pageref{LastPage}}
\renewcommand\headheight{24pt}
\renewcommand\footrulewidth{0.4pt}

However, with \documentclass{letter}, this doesn't work at all. Suggestions are duly appreciated.

EDIT: Here is sample code that doesn't work (for any apparent reason):

\documentclass[12pt]{letter}

\usepackage{fontspec}% font selecting commands 
\usepackage{xunicode}% unicode character macros 
\usepackage{xltxtra} % some fixes/extras 

% page counting, header/footer
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{lastpage}

\pagestyle{fancy}
\lhead{\footnotesize \parbox{11cm}{Draft 1} }
\lfoot{\footnotesize \parbox{11cm}{\textit{2}}}
\cfoot{}
\rhead{\footnotesize 3}
\rfoot{\footnotesize Page \thepage\ of \pageref{LastPage}}
\renewcommand{\headheight}{24pt}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0.4pt}

\begin{document}
\name{ Joe Laroo }
\signature{ Joe Laroo }
\begin{letter}{ To-Address }
\renewcommand{\today}{ February 16, 2009 }
\opening{ Opening }
Content of the letter.
\closing{ Yours truly, }
\end{letter}
\end{document}

Answer 1

Just before your "Content of the letter" line, add \thispagestyle{fancy} and it should show the headers you defined. (It worked for me.)

Here's the full document that I used to test:

\documentclass[12pt]{letter}

\usepackage{fontspec}% font selecting commands 
\usepackage{xunicode}% unicode character macros 
\usepackage{xltxtra} % some fixes/extras 

% page counting, header/footer
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{lastpage}

\pagestyle{fancy}
\lhead{\footnotesize \parbox{11cm}{Draft 1} }
\lfoot{\footnotesize \parbox{11cm}{\textit{2}}}
\cfoot{}
\rhead{\footnotesize 3}
\rfoot{\footnotesize Page \thepage\ of \pageref{LastPage}}
\renewcommand{\headheight}{24pt}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0.4pt}

\usepackage{lipsum}% provides filler text

\begin{document}
\name{ Joe Laroo }
\signature{ Joe Laroo }
\begin{letter}{ To-Address }
\renewcommand{\today}{ February 16, 2009 }
\opening{ Opening }

\thispagestyle{fancy}% sets the current page style to 'fancy' -- must occur *after* \opening
\lipsum[1-10]% just dumps ten paragraphs of filler text

\closing{ Yours truly, }
\end{letter}
\end{document}

The \opening command sets the page style to firstpage or empty, so you have to use \thispagestyle after that command.

Answer 2

After I removed

\usepackage{fontspec}% font selecting commands 
\usepackage{xunicode}% unicode character macros 
\usepackage{xltxtra} % some fixes/extras 

it seems to have worked "correctly".

It may be worth noting that the headers and footers only appear from page 2 onwards. Although I've tried the fix for this given in the fancyhdr documentation, I can't get it to work either.

FYI: MikTeX 2.7 under Vista

Answer 3

With regard to Brent.Longborough's answer (appering only on page 2 onward), perhaps you need to set the \thispagestyle{} after \begin{document}. I wonder if the letter class is setting the first page style to empty.

Answer 4

There is a link explaining about header and footer..

http://home.gwu.edu/~jinho10/CS_Tips/Entries/2012/1/2_Latex_Tips.html