Miss America by Day: Lessons Learned from Ultimate Betrayals and Unconditional Love

Marilyn describes in detail, her courageous search for healing from sexual abuse/rape as a child

Marilyn Van Derbur was crowned Miss America while she was a student at the University of Colorado. She received a bachelor of arts degree in 1960, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

As a childhood incest survivor, she has devoted much of her adult life to raising national awareness and understanding of sexual abuse and its long-term effects. In 1989 she asked the Kempe Center in Denver to develop an adult incest survivor program, and in 1993 she cofounded two national not-for-profit organizations dedicated to public education and strengthening laws protecting victims of sexual abuse.

She has produced 24 films, two of which won national and international awards. One was shown on prime-time PBS. Several have been shown in hundreds of classrooms nationwide.

Van Derbur is well known as a convention keynote and motivational speaker. She has been named as Outstanding Woman Speaker in America, has been inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, and has received numerous awards and acknowledgments for her work.

A lifelong resident of Denver, she and her husband Larry Atler have one grown daughter and one grandson.