A Letter From the Publisher

By Richard B. Thomas

Every now and then TIME publishes a story that stirs an unusually strong response among readers. Margie Brauer's moving letter to a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee detailing her family's losing battle to hold on to their North Carolina farm (NATION, Sept. 8) has elicited just such an outpouring. In the two weeks since Mrs. Brauer's account of hardworking folk facing bankruptcy appeared, TIME and the Brauers have been deluged with phone calls and letters from strangers offering to help. "People are very concerned," reports TIME Letters Chief Joan Walsh. "I think that the Brauers' decency has obviously touched TIME readers."

Associate Editor Gregory Jaynes, who wrote the story that accompanied Margie Brauer's appeal for understanding -- in which she complained mildly about her old eyeglasses and her need for dental work -- is not surprised by the burst of sympathy. Jaynes first read her missive last July, after it was passed along to him by Senior Writer Frank Trippett, who received a copy from a friend at a North Carolina newspaper. "I was about halfway through reading it when I started crying," recalls Jaynes. "I thought, if I'm crying, this letter should reach daylight." His instincts proved correct. "Margie's words, as eloquent as they were, brought about a storm of response," he says. "She told me later that she'd been offered new glasses and teeth enough to outfit the state of North Carolina."

Brauer and her husband Ernie have received some 200 or so communications from as far away as Hawaii and Great Britain. Many have included cash donations ranging in size from $5 to several hundred dollars. There have also been preliminary inquiries by investors interested in purchasing the farm as trustees who would allow the Brauers to stay on as tenants. "We've heard of so many suicides," says Margie. "Ernie and I thought our own story might open up another viewpoint to someone in the same predicament."

Despite the likelihood that they will lose their farm, the Brauers, characteristically, find themselves with much to be grateful about. "When you get in a situation that your self-image is so poor and you get all these calls from people saying that you stand for some of the things they admire, it boosts you up," explains Margie. "We really do appreciate it. Their thoughts and the monetary gifts will help us over a very hard time."