Betty White an inspiration to USPS board chair McReynolds

Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke

Amber F. McReynolds has served as the chair of the United States Postal Service’s board of governors since May 13, 2021 and will serve through Dec. 8, 2026.

She was the dedicating official for the Betty White commemorative forever stamp.

Following the March 27 first-day-of-issue ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif., McReynolds took a few minutes to chat with Linn’s Stamp News, and the following is part of that conversation:

When you saw the list of new stamps for 2025 that are coming out, how did you pull off being the dedicating official for the Betty White stamp?

Well, when I saw the list I mean — first off — I’m the chairwoman of the board, so I get to pick first, which was super exciting for me.

And, you know, Betty White is/was a big inspiration to me. She has been for a long time. And, you know, I also love telling the stories of women that have had a significant impact in our world. I wrote about a number of women in the book I wrote [editors note: When Women Vote from 2020 co-authored with Stephanie F. Donner].

I regularly celebrate women and their accomplishments, and I just think that Betty has provided such a joyful and enduring legacy for us to follow. And I think if we were all a little more like Betty, we’d certainly have a happier, more joyful society.

Do you think that maybe Betty White was a letter writer? Or do you feel like that was an inspiration to her and that she probably was more old school when it came to writing letters?

I do. A lot of us still use letter writing. My two children are here, 14 and 12, and they write thank you cards for gifts they receive. They write Christmas cards and birthday cards to family and friends.

And I really hope there’s a way we can reinvigorate, whether it’s pen pals or writing letters to each other or cards to each other, because I do think getting something in the mail that’s physical and meaningful and all of that provides significant joy to people.

With this stamp in particular, how do you anticipate using it for yourself?

Well, I certainly will. I actually already ordered a a couple of the panes online. I often give stamps as gifts. So, I did that when the women vote 100th [anniversary] stamp came out. That was part of my Christmas gift to a lot of my friends. So I will probably use it [the Betty White stamp] to give joy to others and give as gifts.

I’ll also be using them on a lot of my thank you notes and letters and everything that I write.

Betty White always had an interesting way of saying things or just saying something out of the blue. What do you think she would think about a moment like today’s first-day ceremony?

I think she would’ve said something very witty and have the entire crowd laughing at this kind of ceremony. She has so many iconic, humorous and joyful comments in her tenure. One that I was actually telling my kids on the way over here, that I actually was laughing about because I saw a clip of it the other day. It reminded me that I think I actually heard it growing up when my grandma had it on, the Golden Girls at her house. But the girls were talking about aging. And Betty said she made the point that aging was a good thing because you’re learning more.

And she said, aging is a great thing unless you’re a banana. And it is just one of those things, right, that she would always bring humor, regardless of the topic or the issue. 

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