All of this is necessary so that I can verify that the person whose name is on the letter actually sent the letter and wants it published. Expect a phone call from me. Now, some papers publish anonymous letters or withhold the writer's name if requested to do so. I wouldn't say that I would never publish such a letter because you should never say never, but I would rather not run the letter at all than run the letter without a name. The reason for this is simple.
Someone needs to be accountable for that opinion.
Individual columnists include both their names and pictures along with their columns. I insist that columnists do so because I want it to be clear that these opinions are the opinions of individual columnists, not the opinion of the newspaper. I insist that names be included with letters for the same reason. Even with a name at the bottom of the letter, you'd be surprised at how many people believe that either the editor or the newspaper itself wrote the letter. One student even came into the office to complain about a letter which appeared in the paper.