Granny D
Granny D is the nickname Doris Haddock earned on her walk of 3200 miles from Los Angeles to Washington D.C., drawing attention to our country's need for campaign finance reform. Her daily journals each day were made into a memoir by Dennis Burke and include an appendix of all the speeches she gave on the way.
What was unique about the walk was that Granny D was 90 years old when she finally reached Washington D.C. in February 2000. During the 14-month walk, she spoke at many cities and finally on the east steps of the U. S. Capital Building. Her main theme was that because of the campaign money given to congressmen by the wealthy and large corporate powers, "...democracy is being bought out from under us."
Granny D had public support all the way across the country. Time after time, families would take her into their homes or join her on the walk. Her son Jim and other friends drove along with her in a van, where they could eat and sleep at other times.
Her closest supporter and sometimes walking companion was 84-year-old Ken Hechler, the secretary of state for West Virginia. Her adversaries on campaign finance reform included Senator McConnell of Kentucky, Senator Kyl of Arizona, and Trent Lott of Mississippi. In earlier years, she and her husband had also protested and stopped Edward Teller's attempt to have thermonuclear bomb tests in Alaska.
But Granny D had a second reason for taking a walk across the country. Her husband Jim, after 62 years of marriage, had died of Alzheimers, and then her closest female friend had died shortly after. To avoid depression over these loses, she decided to show her support for the campaign finance reform by bringing it to the attention of the people all over the country who were feeling "political abandonment."
After the McCain-Feingold bill on this reform passed in the Senate, these two senators each went to Granny D and hugged her with thanks for all she had done. But she was not finished. Some time later, she was arrested for reading the Declaration of Independence aloud under the Rotunda at the Capital Building.
Both Granny D's long walk and her positive attitude towards life in this country make this an inspiring book to read. She believed in the non-violent strategy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. as the best way to protest corruption.
Three of the strong supporters who applauded Granny D were Jimmy Carter, Bill Moyers, and Senator John McCain. The book was copyrighted in 2001 by Doris Haddock and Dennis Burke.