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Fans that were crowded behind barricades cheered as a blue
curtain dropped to reveal the stamp featuring a portrait of
White against a violet-colored background with lighter shades of
bubbly spots in a nod to her sparkling personality. She wears a
blue polka-dot blouse and peeking out of her blond curls is an
earring shaped like a pawprint.
“When I was working on the stamp surrounding myself with Betty
White videos and pictures, I felt like I was working on a
portrait of a family member,” Boston-based artist Dale Stephanos
said. “I wanted Betty’s huge personality to take center stage.”
The illustration is based on a photo taken by Kwaku Alston in
2010.
At the celebration, singer-songwriter Ellis Hall performed a
snippet of “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the theme song to
“The Golden Girls.”
A laughing kookaburra and other squawking birds occasionally
interrupted the speakers, which surely would have delighted the
animal-loving White.
“Animals were her kids and she loved them all — any shape, size
and kind,” said Richard Lichtenstein, a board member of the
Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association.
White had worked with the zoo since its opening in 1966 until
her death in December 2021, a couple weeks shy of her 100th
birthday.
“Who didn’t love Betty White?” Lichtenstein said. “Her smile,
her sense of humor, her basic decency. Our country, our city and
yes, even our Los Angeles Zoo, would be much better if more
people followed her example. Betty White put her stamp on
everyone and anyone she came in contact with.”
He said White's financial support and advocacy helped make
possible exhibits featuring chimps, gorillas and elephants,
among others.
Lichtenstein said White set up a private foundation before her
death that funds various zoo programs.
“This zoo, its inhabitants and this community meant so much to
Betty White just as she meant so much to all of us,” said Amber
McReynolds, chair of the USPS board of governors. “Betty White
was an American treasure.”
People lined up to purchase panes of 20 forever stamps, pins and
notecards before getting first-day cancellations near a churro
snack stand while schoolchildren walked by.
“This stamp is special because let’s face it, everybody loves
Betty White,” Stephanos said.
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