BY KAREN BOSSICK

It’s a wonder that Bob Brock doesn’t have writer’s cramp.

The Hailey man has written thousands of postcards during the past month, urging people in Blaine County and several states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, Texas and Kentucky. to get out and vote.

“I always tell why it’s meaningful to me and worth the cost of my stamp,” said Brock, who does admit to a writing callus on his middle finger. “I start out, ‘I am a 77-year-old Vietnam veteran, and the 2024 election will be the most important in my lifetime… Please vote and make your voice heard.’ No mention of candidates or issues, but I do put, ‘P.S.: Integrity and honesty always matters.’ ”

Brock began ordering postcards in batches of 200, 500 and a thousand. By mid-October he had sent out more than 2,000 cards.

He even shells out his own money for the postcard stamps, which at 56 cents each have added up to more than $2,000.

“The Post Office has run out of postcard stamps several times because there’s been so many people sending them,” Brock said.

Numerous valley residents have gone above and beyond this election cycle. Andrea Parker, for instance, had knocked on 541 doors on behalf of Republican candidates going into the last week of October. That was a third of all the Republican door knocks to that point, said Heather Lauer chair of the Blaine County Republican Party.

“A lot of people have been writing postcards, but the number of cards written by Bob is above and beyond,” said Bev Robinson, who has helped man the Blaine County Democrats headquarters in Ketchum. “He is extremely dedicated during this election process.”

Brock has occasionally taken part in postcard writing gatherings at the so-called Democracy Salon in Sun Valley headed up by Jamie Lieberman and Becky Klassen or the Deerfield Cell in Hailey headed up by Nina Steffens and Kritin Poole.

He said the postcard writing gatherings are fun, what with the popcorn and the sense of community they foster. But typically he works out of his home. When his wife Nina was away for three weeks on vacation, he binged on postcard writing from 6 in the morning to 10 at night with breaks to go to the gym or take a nap.

“The project is never dreary or boring. I enjoy the rhythm of it. I’ll do five cards, then reward myself with coffee. I’ll do a little stack before checking my phone. I imagine myself as a Ukrainian soldier in some bunker, programming drones or something like that to remind myself how important this effort is to save democracy,” he said.

Brock grew up in New Jersey. During the Vietnam War, he served as a supply officer on a Navy battleship, supplying gunboats on the Mekong River with food and ammunition.

Returning to the United States, he became a counselor and English teacher at the Sun Valley Community School where he taught Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” along with books by Cormac McCarthy and environmental literature.

He only began writing postcards in 2020.

“I did not used to get excited about elections. But I feel like you have to do your part now because so much is at stake.,” he said

Writing postcards reminds him of grading student essays.

“My secret power was writing comments in the margins of papers. My special talents are that I have endurance for such tasks and that my handwriting is legible in small spaces. Postcard writing addresses another secret power of mine in that I don’t get bored doing something that would drive others crazy. “

Brock devotes his full attention to each postcard in the belief that each postcard equals one vote.

“Every time I write a postcard, I envision it making a difference. I put my karma into each card, hoping it will somehow translate to the person who receives it. I’m hoping a good 2,000 votes in Michigan will go a long way.”

Brock is one of 296,000 volunteers nationwide sending out 40 million postcards encouraging occasional Democrat voters to vote in the 2024 campaign. He was instructed when to send the cards to make sure voters received them right before the election, which is deemed to be the most optimal time.

But he often sent them a couple days earlier, just in case the U.S. Postal Service was backed up.

“With so many people voting early, I couldn’t wait,” he said.

Brock says he’s intrigued by the variety of names when it come to the prospective voters, their streets and towns.

“I especially liked to spell Albuquerque and write zip codes with numbers 8, 5 and 3—I liked the flourish of those numbers because it’s like art. And I’ve really felt like an American in the way I could connect with individuals all over the country. The more I write, the more I feel comport in the belief that we’re all in this together and we need to band together to achieve what’s best for the country.”

Brock says his work with postcards reminds him of when he used to send postcards once a week to his mother.

“She looked forward to opening her mailbox and finding a card with Idaho landscapes or New Yorker cartoons I’d cut out and posted on the cards, and she’d save them in a shoebox. Now I send postcards to my five grandkids, and they get so excited when they open the mailbox and find a card for them.”

Brock said he feels privileged to have participated in this year’s election.

““I don’t like invading people’s privacy on the phone or knocking on doors,” he said. “Michelle Obama said, ‘Do something,’ and this is what I do.”