PS: Brian Griffin and Neelie Nelson:

Marolyn and I have been reading My Darling Anna aloud--a few letters each evening. It’s a good read and a fun read--taking us back to a time when our own grandparents were children and teenagers.

Yes, we are enjoying My Darling Anna. We read a few letter each evening, usually during our cocktail hour, and talk a bit about the places Will tells Anna about. We try to visualize what he saw in his day and what we have seen when we have visited some of the same places.

It’s good that we, who take phone calls and emails for granted, should be reminded occasionally that not so long ago exchanges of loving words might take many, many days. As lovers for more than fifty years, we can easily identify with Will’s and Anna’s sentiments and can sympathize with their frustration at their letters’ slow transits.

Rather a shame, isn’t it, that paper letters appear to be going the way of the dodo? I try to write to our four grandchildren and to two other young children monthly. I have told them their grandchildren may someday look at them in stunned amazement when told letters used to be written or typed on paper and were hand carried to houses by “Postal Carriers.”

And to think: The envelope with Will’s first letter to Anna didn't require a ZIP Code . . . not even a street address. Another time and another culture. Amazing!

Thank you both for your diligent digging, for pulling it all together, and for sharing it with us, your grateful readers. 

Edward C. Hartman
Author: "The Population Fix"
Speaker: "One Billion Americans"