29. Amelia Earhart

Dear Followers,

On Sunday I wrote about Gail Collins' new book "When Everything Changed" and if you would like to see what The NY Times had to say about it today, please click on (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/books/21change.html?_r=1)

Today I'd like to discuss an amazing Self-Empowered Woman, Amelia Earhart, who will be the subject of a soon to be released movie, "Amelia." Hilary Swank (Chapter Ten: The Critic Within) will star in this "biopic" about a woman whose flying exploits became legendary.

Earhart loved her father, but he was an alcoholic (Chapter One: Non-Existent Paternal Safety Net) and she refused to accept other people's belief that women shouldn't fly airplanes (Chapter Eight: Turning No Into Yes). Obviously, as the first woman to cross the Atlantic on her own, Earhart was familiar with taking chances (Chapter Eleven: Risk Addiction), and as soon as you see the movie you'll understand which of the other "17 Characteristics" that apply to her life.

Earhart has been the subject of over 100 books and everything from museums to Navy ship have been named after her. She was a contributing editor to Cosmopolitan Magazine and even designed "Active Living" clothes. It's amazing to think that a quarter century after her death United Airlines banned female passengers from their New York to Chicago "Executive Flights," and yet she had received her flying license in 1921, broke the women's altitude record in 1922, flew solo across the Atlantic in 1932, and became the first pilot to fly solo from Hawaii to California in 1934.

I'm sure the more you learn about "Lady Lindy" the more impressed and inspired you will be.

Looking forward to your comments...

28. When Everything Changed

Dear Followers,

Back on September 6th, I blogged about one of my favorite writers (Gail Collins) and one of my favorite books ("America's Women"), which discussed the contributions that women had made during our country's 400 year evolution.

I'm happy to share with you the good news that Ms. Collins now has a new book that traces " The Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present.

In addition to her books, Collins was the first female head of The NY Times editorial board and (Chapter Two: An Early Sense of Direction) she always knew she wanted to be a writer. She ran the newspaper at her Catholic all girls school, earned a degree in journalism (from Marquette University) in 1967 and a master's in government from the University of Massachusetts in 1971. Before joining The NY Times, she worked for UPI, The NY Daily News and New York Newsday.


In Collins' new book she reminds readers of what life was like for women after World War II, and it's not a pretty picture. In her words "...women were not meant to compete with men, to act independently of men, to earn their own bread, or to have adventures on their own....They could not go into business without their husbands' permission or get credit without male cosigners."

Women under the age of thirty will probably find the information in Collins' book hard to believe, but they need to read her words and respect her research. It was an era when Black women were marginalized by organizers at Martin Luther King's 1963 "I have a dream" speech, and even Rosa Parks was overlooked at a gathering in Montgomery, Alabama. Those of us who have reaped the benefits of the Equal Opportunities Employment Commission can't help but be surprised to learn that women were added, according to Representative Howard Smith of Virginia, as " a joke" to help block the Civil Rights Act.

Looking forward to your comments...