At long last, here is a collection of more than 100 historic columns, arranged according to subject matter and timbre.  They begin with a grouping called “Déjà Vu,” nostalgic writings of Bolivar and Pleasant Hope.  It will surprise no one that this section also contains details of Washington, D.C., Betty Jean Steinshouer’s new hometown as of 1980. The demise of the Washington Star and the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial were as personal to her as if they had happened in Bolivar. Her readers let her know that having news each week about such far-away events in the Herald-Free Press made the Nation’s Capital feel like their hometown, too, but once Ronald Reagan became president, he filled the streets of DC with homeless, mentally ill people whose social and residential programs had been defunded. Betty Jean soon fell silent and moved away. But over the years her voice has revived, to celebrate a beloved relative or teacher. The "Post Script" section of Letters to Bolivar also reveals what it was like to keep vigil at the White House after the Pulse Nightclub shooting and attend  "March for Our Lives" along with student survivors from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.

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