The power of a letter
‘Dear Stranger’ pen pal
program connects Oregonians
BY M.J. CODY
There once was a time long, long
ago, when people used a pen or pencil to
write on actual paper and then enclosed
said paper into an envelope, addressed
it, put a stamp on it and deposited it in
the mail.
Participate in ‘Dear Stranger’
Sign up at oregonhumanities.org/pro-
grams/other-projects/dear-stranger/.
Letters must be mailed by Feb. 28, 2022.
Return letters will be mailed in early March
2022.
Send questions to: programs@oregonhu-
manities.org
I’m not making this up.
Very few these days still entertain
this curious method of communication,
but the nonprofit organization, Ore-
gon Humanities, is bringing the practice
back to life with their “Dear Stranger”
project.
The premise is simple: write a letter,
get a letter and make a new connection.
Oregon Humanities is dedicated to
encouraging people to talk, listen and
learn from one another. The aim of the
project is to create a shared understand-
ing among Oregonians with varied back-
grounds, experiences and beliefs.
The project began in 2014 and con-
tinues with writing prompts — gener-
ally in three-month intervals — asking
writers to address a different question or
theme.
See Page 9
Since 2014, more than 1,000 people have exchanged letters through the ‘Dear Stranger’ project.
MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED
GIVE THE GIFT OF MEMBERSHIP
1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR
503.325.2323 • www.crmm.org
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