46 Self-Empowered Woman In Santiago

Dear Followers,

Today I'd like to introduce you to an amazing 84 year old woman who has had a profound effect on the political landscape in Chile. In today's New York Times Alexei Barrionuevo introduced readers to Ana Gonzalez, a plump gray-haired grandmother who has batteld tirelessly on behalf of families touched by "the dissapeared."

Back in the 1970's, Chile's president, socialist Salvador Allende was overthrown in a bloody coup by General Augusto Pinochet. Under his dictatorship anyone who was (or had been) associated with the communist party was considered an enemy of the state.

In April 1976, Ana Gonzalez lost both her sons, pregnant daughter-in law, and her husband (12. Hard Times). Like thousands of other women in Chile who lost their loved ones, no bodies were ever recovered. For the next 34 years, Ana Gonzalez has worked tirelessly to find out what happened to the 3,000 people who are believed to have been killed during Pinochet's dictatorship (7. Magnificent Obsession).

As she told The New York Times "they never thought that a woman, a housewife who didn't know anything, not even where the courts were located, would take up the battle cry" (13. More Than Meets The Eye). The slogan for the quest to match DNA samples is "You live in us, we carry you in our blood."

At age 11 Gonzalez moved from the North of Chile to Santiago, where she lived with her aunt and uncle (1. No Paternal Safety Net). And by the age of 16 she attended her first Young Communists meeting (2. An Early Sense of Direction). That's where she met her husband, and they remained active in the communist party; since the disappearance of her loved ones she organized protests, led hunger strikes at the offices of embassies, the church, the Red Cross and the U.N..

According to Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director for Human Rights Watch, "she was on the front lines, showing tremendous courage." Ana Gonzalez represents "the voice of somebody with no hatred. She talks... in a calm, serene way."

Looking forward to your comments...

45. "The Elders" and The Self-Empowered Woman

Dear Followers,

On Sunday I was reading the latest NY Times column by Nicholas Kristof, and learned about a new movement designed to urge religions around the world to stop oppressing women. Kristof points out that warlords in Congo may not use scripture to justify mass rapes, and Hindus in India who burn brides may not excuse that tradition by quoting Hindu rituals, and Afghans do not rely on the Koran to justify throwing acid into the faces of girls who try to go to school. But because these behaviors reflect a social belief that women are second-class citizens, religions do little to change such abuses.

To fight these ingrained behaviors, Nelson Mandela brought together a small group of retired leaders (called "The Elders") to focus on the role of religion in oppressing women. The group includes Bishop Desmond Tutu, Ireland's Mary Robinson, and former president Jimmy Carter.

Carter has noted that religion is one of the "basic causes of the violations of women's rights....The belief that are inferior human beings in the eyes of God gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife, the soldier who rapes a woman, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women employees, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo."

Who would have thought that the Dalai Lama would agree that religion is part of the problem, and declare himself "a feminist"? As Kristof wrote "The Elders are right that religious groups should stand up for a simple ethical principle: any person's human rights should be sacred, and not depend on something as earthly as their genitals."

Looking forward to your comments...

44. Self-Empowered Literature Ambassador Katherine Paterson

Dear Followers,

2010 has started off on an encouraging note. Sunday night I spoke at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palm Beach Gardens to a small group of amazing women. The next day I spoke at Baywinds Women's Association, where we had a large group - led by Tony's cousin Betty Lantiere - who wanted to learn about the 17 Characteristics of High Achievers. And then last night I received an email from London asking me to participate in the publicity drive for the DVD release of Hilary Swank's movie "Amelia," about Amelia Earhart. Can't wait to see what else will develop before month's end!

Today I'd like to introduce you to another amazing Self-Empowered Woman. Katherine Paterson, 77, (you might know her as the author of "Bridge to Terabithia") has just been named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and I think her story is compelling.

Paterson's parents (Mary and George Womeldorf) were Christian missionaries in Jiangsu, China, where she was born. Her father was the principal of a girls' school, and he traveled throughout China as a missionary (3. Belief in the Unbelievable).

When she was eight years old she wrote her first published work, a poem for her school newspaper in Shanghai, and because her family moved thirteen times in thirteen years she was always the new girl at school who never fit in very well. To deal with her loneliness, she turned to writing and wrote several plays while in school (2. An Early Sense of Direction).

Her first novel "Who Am I?" was written in 1966, but she had a hard time getting it published. Finally, by the 1970s, her books began to earn awards (8. Turning No's into Yes's). After marrying Presbyterian minister John Paterson, she had four children and would write in five-minute spells while raising her small children (16. Intensive Motherhood).

Paterson has written 39 books, won the National Book Award, the Newberry Medal, the Scott O'Dell Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Now that she is the national ambassador for young people's literature (a joint appointment by the Library of Congress's Center for the Book and Every Child a Reader as well as the Children's Book Council) she plans to encourage children everywhere to fall in love with books.

Looking forward to your comments...

43. The Self-Empowered Woman: Agatha Christie

Dear Followers,

Can't believe it's the last day of 2009! We've all been through so much, but everyone seems to agree that 2010 is bound to be easier for all of us. Not surprisingly, my New Year's Resolutions involve better health, book sales, and more amazing women for the blog.

Today's amazing woman is Dame Agatha Christie, who has been called - by the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the best-selling book author of all times as well as the best-selling writer of any time (along with Shakespeare). She has sold four billion copies of her novels - only the Bible has sold more. Christie is the "most translated individual author" with books in at least 56 languages. And her play " The Mousetrap," which opened in 1952, has been running in London for 38 years, is the longest-running show in the history of English plays, and has currently been performed 23,000 times.

Not surprisingly, Christie has plenty of Self-Empowered Woman traits (especially #7: Magnificent Obsession). Her first mystery novel ws published in 1920, but had been rejected by a number of publishers (8: Turning No's Into Yes's). Although her second marriage was happy, her first husband oleft her for another woman (15: Forget About Prince Charming), which led to Christie's nervous breakdown and a ten-day disapparence where she registered at a Yorkshire hotel under the name of her husband's mistress.

A number of critics - from Robert Graves to Raymond Chandler - were dismissive of her work (13: More Than Meets The Eye). In spite of her detractors, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are as popular today as always. In fact, Poirot is the only fictional character to ever receive an obituary in the New York Times.

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller Christie died January 12, 1976 when she was 85 years old.

Looking forward to your comments...

42. Nancy Meyers: Self-Empowered Woman

Dear Followers,

I'm willing to bet that many of your favorite movies - like mine - over the last 20 years have been made due to the genius of writer/director/producer Nancy Meyers. From "Private Benjamin" to both versions of "Father of The Bride" to "The Holiday" and "It's Complicated," Meyers has changed the way that Hollywood power brokers think about movie audiences.

Not surprisingly, Meyers has her share of Self-Empowered characteristics. She definitely surprised movie studios with her ability to create highly profitable films (13: More Than Meets The Eye). And after her long domestic and creative partnership with Charles Shyer, they split in 1998 (15: Forget About Prince Charming). Since she's been on her own, however, her last four movies have earned $200 million worldwide (8: Turning No's Into Yes's).

As a director, Meyers is famous for micromanaging every tiny detail about her films (10: The Critic Within), and although her two daughters are now grown, when they were younger they went on movie sets as much as possible, had private tutors, and even had their own cribs on location with their Mom (16: Intensive Motherhood).

Meyers has given us movies that celebrate intelligent, accomplished women who have retained their appeal even if (or perhaps because) they've lost their youth. Critics predict that "It's Complicated" will be the fifth home run in a row for 60 year old Nancy Meyers, who managed to tap into her own life and values to give the rest of us a good time at the movies.

Looking forward to your comments...

41. Ageless Self-Empowerment

Dear Followers,

After a two-week holiday hiatus I'm ready to continue sharing stories about amazing women. On the book front, sales continue to grow gradually and 309 people have watch The Self-Empowered Woman YouTube video. In January I'll have three speaking engagements, and hope that word of mouth will compensate for (way too expensive) advertising. And, I'd like to thank each of you for your enthusiasm!

Today, I'd like to tell you about an amazing 94 year old artist named Carmen Herrera. Herrera was born in Cuba, where she took art lessons as a child (2: An Early Sense of Direction). She attended finishing school in Paris, and attended college in Cuba. Before she received her degree in architecture, however, she married Jesse Loewenthal and moved to New York. He was an English teacher at Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School - one of his colleagues was author Frank McCourt.

Jesse and Carmen were married for 61 years, until he died at 98 in 2000. He supported her love of painting even though she didn't sell her first canvas until five years ago when she was 89. Since then her work has been acquired by MoMa and her canvases sell for close to $50,000 (13. More Than Meets the Eye).

Herrera told the New York Times that painting was "...a compulsion that also gives me pleasure...I just worked and waited. And at the end of my life, I'm getting a lot of recognition" (7. Magnificent Obsession). Herrera in outspoken (5. Life is Not a Popularity Contest), and continued to paint minimalist geometric canvases even though people expected an immigrant Cuban artist to paint tropical landscapes and florals. Instead, Herrera continued to paint what one collector described as "Visual Haiku."

Herrera's tenacity is truly inspirational!

Looking forward to your comments...

40. The Self-Empowered Woman/Meryl Streep

Dear Followers,

In the January issue of Vanity Fair Magazine, Leslie Bennetts has written a lengthy profile of Meryl Streep's amazing career. You have probably already seen the ads for her upcoming movie "It's Complicated," which will open on Christmas day; her co-stars are Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

Streep, who has two younger brothers, grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey and attended Vassar, Dartmouth, and Yale School of Drama. The more I read about Ms. Streep (duh) the more SEW traits I found. For those of you in the know, here's the Cliff's Notes version:

5. Life Is Not A Popularity Contest

6. Life Is Also Not A Beauty Contest

7. Magnificent Obsession

10.The Critic Within

11. Risk Addiction

13. More Than Meets the Eye

16. Intensive Motherhood

Streep's resume reads like a master class in American cinema. From "Kramer vs. Kramer" to "Sophie's Choice" to "Out of Africa" to "Silkwood" to "The Devil Wears Prada" to "Mamma Mia!" to "Julie & Julia" to"Doubt" she has earned the right to be called America's greatest actress.

In the Vanity Fair article, readers are told that she thought her career (like many actresses') would be over when she turned 38. And yet, at age 60 she's starring in hugely successful films. "Mamma Mia!" grossed over $600 million worldwide, "The Devil Wears Prada" made $324 million, and "Julie & Julia" is expected to ultimately earn big profits as well. All of this has surprised Hollywood execs, who have long felt that teenage boys (rather than middle-aged women) were their target market.

Streep has been nominated for 15 Academy Awards and won two, received 23 Golden Globe nominations and won six (more nominations than any other actor for either award). She's has also won two Emmys. two SAGs, three New York Film Critics Circle Awards, five Grammy Award nominations, a BAFTA Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and a Tony Award nomination.

Looking forward to your comments...