The 411

Yes! It’s true. I was once a newspaper photographer! I covered a lot of community news, sports, feature stories and political goings-on, and every so often, I was invited to take a photo of a famous person. What a thrill!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Time marched on. Life went on. And then, traditional journalism took a nap. Some would say it went into a drug-induced coma! Many newspapers and magazines went digital or disappeared completely. Even the Chicago Tribune, my hometown newspaper, went bankrupt. Uh, oh!

What’s a girl with a camera to do? Since my imaginary trust fund was just about tapped out, I went to work in the non-profit world, taking photos and writing stories about good people doing good things. How uplifting!

One day, I realized that I was disgusted with the way women were being treated in America. This New Millennium was for the birds! There was a lot of Weinstein-ing and #MeToo-ing happening all over the place. To add insult to injury, when men earned a dollar for working a crummy job, women were earning a paltry 80 cents for working the very same crummy job. (Say what?!) As for the dreaded practice of “mansplaining,” it was running rampant.

I was getting ready to cloister myself in a tower like Rapunzel. Unfortunately, my hair proved too short to be woven into an escape ladder if I needed one. Additionally, I was being consumed by what I referred to as “long-simmering, estrogen-fueled rage.”

So, I decided to do something completely different. I channeled all my angst and energy into a book. While it didn’t solve all my problems, it did make me feel happier and more hopeful about what the future holds for American women.

And that’s something… right?

• 

• 

•