‘Granny D’ Finishes Trek, but Campaign Reform Goal Is Unmet
She is 90 and has arthritis, emphysema and a bunion on her left big toe, but on Tuesday, Doris “Granny D” Haddock completed a 14-month, 3,200-mile trek across America to agitate for campaign finance reform.
Hundreds gathered to cheer the final steps of her arduous journey, which began Jan. 1, 1999, at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, and ended with a rally on the east steps of the U.S. Capitol.
There the Dublin, N.H., woman scolded lawmakers for turning “this temple of our fair republic into a bawdy house where anything and everything is done for a price.”
“Along my 3,000 miles through the heart of America . . . did I meet anyone who thought that their voice as an equal citizen now counts for much in the corrupt halls of Washington? No, I did not. Did I meet anyone who felt anger or pain over this? I did indeed, and I watched them shake with rage sometimes when they spoke, and I saw tears well up in their eyes,” she said.
A mother of two, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 12, she was widowed several years ago after 62 years of marriage.
Haddock and her rotating band of companions kept a journal, parts of which were posted on her Web site at https://www.Grannyd.com.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
