Can I start a new topic by sending an email message?

Hi Jeff,

Last month you sent me the link for setting up incoming email (dated April 2016):

But, I now see a subsequent posting (dated July 2016) where it seems Discourse has made the first instruction moot/not necessary.

My question: Do I still need an email address - outside of Discourse - in order to initialt email postings AND replies fully functional?

Apologies in advance; I know CMS systems, but email set up is not something I have any experience with.

Thx.