Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women - Softcover

Boyle, Prill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1578602084 ISBN 13: 9781578602087

Publisher: Clerisy Press, 2005

Synopsis

Every day, regular women are accomplishing extraordinary things later in life. Prill Boyle gathered the encouraging stories of twelve daring and determined women who accomplished incredible things at an age when most people are beginning to wind down.

About this title

From the Publisher

DEFYING GRAVITY tells the tales of a dozen remarkable women who reversed their courses in mid-life and never stopped dreaming:

· Wini Yunker joined the Peace Corps at age 65, then embarked on a two-year tour of the Ukraine.
· Rainelle Burton overcame dyslexia, homelessness and depression to publish her acclaimed first novel, The Root Worker, at age 52.
· Irma Elder, a shy housewife until she was widowed at age 52, is now the CEO of one of the ten largest Hispanic-owned companies in the nation.
· Jo Fuchs Luscombe was 48 when she won a seat in the Connecticut House of Representatives. She was elected Minority Whip eight years later.
· Linda Bach became a doctor at 50, about the same time her daughter graduated college.
· Jean Kelly, once a teenage mother on welfare, earned her Ph.D. and became a community college administrator at 49.
· Evelyn Gregory, a retired bank vice-president, realized a life-long dream at 71 years old and became a flight attendant.
· Patricia Symonds earned a GED in her 40’s, a Ph.D. in her 50’s, and became a professor of anthropology at Brown University at age 60.
· Mary Orlando was 62 when she bought the historic home she grew up in and turned it into a successful bed & breakfast.
· Jean Karotkin discovered a talent for professional photography at age 47 after a life changing bout with breast cancer. Body & Soul, her book of photos featuring breast cancer survivors, will be published this summer.
· Maureen Horkan was 33 and fed-up with abusive boyfriends and dead-end jobs. She made it into Smith College, went on to law school, and is now an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville, Florida.
· Jane Work graduated from college at 50 and eventually opened her own private practice and became a Gestalt therapist. At 87, she continues to see some patients.

From the Author

"Whether we’re in the first flowering of adulthood or the autumn of our lives, most of us long to do something that energizes us and fills us with joy. We hope to make a difference, to leave a sense of ourselves behind to germinate in future generations. But all too often, we settle for far less and toil away at jobs that are smaller than our spirits."

About this edition

• Publisher: Clerisy Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1578602084
• ISBN 13: 9781578602087
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288