Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less. Include your name and city or community of residence. Guest opinions should be 600 words or less and include a brief summary of the author’s credentials relevant to the topic. Guest opinions may include a head shot of the author. For the Fort Myers News-Press, email submissions to [email protected] and for the Naples Daily News to [email protected]
Privileged to have known Carter
I’ve had the privilege of knowing Jimmy Carter since 1975. I met him in Miami on October 28, 1975, I was 20 years old. I worked for him during the Florida primary and the general election of 1976. Throughout the campaign I saw him numerous times and even hosted a tea for his mother, Ms. Lillian and Rosalynn at the Holiday Inn in Homestead, Florida where I lived. After he won, President Carter invited all the people who worked for him in Florida to the White House for dinner! March 9, 1978, myself and a “guest” traveled to Washington, D.C., and had dinner, sat in the Blue Room in front of a fireplace, looked to my right and there was the Washington Monument in the distance with a blanket of snow on the ground. The beauty of the moment changed my life. It was magical and made more shocking by my “guest” proposing to me right there in the Blue Room sitting on a wing back chair in front of that beautiful fireplace. We danced to the Marine Band surrounded by senators and congressmen. Now, 48 years later, my “guest” and I can still share this story with our grandchildren. The stories that must be out there of the lives he touched − what a game changer he was. Rest in peace Mr. President, you are loved and you will be missed.
Kate Ferreira, Naples
Breaking bread with billionaires
After his election in 2016, President-elect Trump triumphantly toured portions of the country thanking rank-and-file voters who helped elect him.
He won, in part, by railing against Wall Street and the wealthy, like himself…