Seven decades as a pen pal

You might have had a pen pal or two growing up, but did you write to several hundred pen friends at once like Dorris Harvey at Juniper Rosemount?

Encouraged by her mother, who was also an active pen pal, Dorris started writing to people across the globe from age eight in 1947, including Christine, another eight-year-old girl living in New Zealand.

Now 78 years later, Dorris still corresponds regularly with Christine and was bridesmaid at her wedding during a one-off, six-week visit to the land of the long white cloud in 1959.

“I just kept writing and still do,” Dorris said.

“I’d never seen her in person before attending the wedding, but we got on really well and her family was lovely.”

Enjoying the retirement village lifestyle at Juniper Rosemount for the past five years, Dorris said there was always a lot on offer to keep her active and entertained along with writing to her pen pals.

“I like it because it’s very homely – once I saw the courtyard, I thought this is it,” Dorris said.

“The group here get on really well.”

When Dorris started writing to pen friends back in the late 1940s it was a hugely popular past time, and she would connect with fellow youngsters through the children’s page in the daily newspaper or pen friend clubs at school.

Growing up in a remote part of WA, it wasn’t uncommon for her family to collect several bags of mail during a visit to the post office.

While the active 86-year-old has corresponded with an incredible number of pen friends over the years, Dorris reached her pen pal peak in her 30s when she had several hundred pen pals on the go.

When asked to name a favourite pen friend, Dorris said a 30-year letter exchange with a Russian university professor named Raissa was a standout as every letter was so detailed, it was like receiving a geographical history lesson.

As well as written letters, Dorris has exchanged coins, stamps, clothing patterns and calendars over the years – she currently has quite the collection of calendars on a wall at her cottage.

Today, Dorris keeps in regular contact with about 30 fellow pen pals and plans to keep writing letters.

“I’ve liked learning about other people and other countries – my daughter has pen pals too,” Dorris said.

With the Guinness World Record for longest pen pals currently sitting at 83 years, set in 2023 by two friends corresponding between Canada and the UK, Dorris could write her way into the record books.