The following article by Terrence McCoy was posted on the Washington Post website February 8, 2017:
Joanne Barr, 54, has never wanted attention. She has only ever wanted a quiet life, and for a long time, what she had in Williamsport, a mountainous town in Central Pennsylvania, was just that. She never thought there would be a time when people would know her story. But then again, she never thought Donald Trump would be president, and when that happened, everything changed.
Last month, Barr, a lifelong Republican, went to the Women’s March on Washington, allowed The Washington Post to accompany her and returned to Williamsport, where she found a mailbox that was soon filling with letters from all over the country and world. “So much mail,” she said. “And for someone who doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. It’s been overwhelming, but I didn’t realize there were so many wonderful, nice people.”
[She’s 54, white, rural and a lifelong Republican. Why is she protesting Donald Trump?]
One day late last month, she went to the mailbox again and collected more letters, one of which bore a New York address. Thinking it was just another letter like the others, she absent-mindedly opened it. Then she saw the letterhead: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“While I know that we are disappointed and heartbroken by the outcome of the election, I am heartened to know that the experience of this campaign has been empowering for you,” the letter read. ” … Never forget that you are powerful and valuable, and that one person can make a difference.”
She went by herself.
“It was pretty scary at first,” she said. But she soon felt at ease.
“We just talked about different issues and trying to see what we can do,” she said. “It’s nice to talk to people with the same ideas that I have.”
View the original post here.