Post #3 – Women’s Memoirs, Rosie the Riveter – Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
UPDATE: One-Day Sale is Over. Thank you for your purchases. All books will be shipped today, Tuesday September 7.
We hope you’ll see enjoy the video as it tells the story behind the writing of Rosie’s Daughters.
At the bottom of this post I’ve added statements from three of the women I interviewed for Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story.
Posted Labor Day, 2010
Kendra and I decided to have a 25%-off, one-day sale on our collective memoir Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story. Why? We’re celebrating Rosie the Riveter’s original contribution to women in the labor force and to Rosie’s Daughters who flung wide the doors of employment opportunity that Rosie had unlocked.
Click on the button below and receive 25% off — that’s $5 off — the usual price of $20. We’ve never offered the autographed book at $15 and it’s only for one day, Labor Day 2010.
Rosie’s Daughters makes a great gift. Buy several and give them at the holiday season. Want to know more? Please look at the video above and read some of the book’s reviews below.
Rosie’s Daughters and Book Clubs
We’re pleased to offer Rosie’s Daughters to book clubs. Kendra and I enjoy talking with book clubs and answering questions about writing the book and the generation of women born during World War II. Just let us know if you’d like us on the telephone for a conference call during your meeting.
Here’s What People Are Saying About: Rosie’s Daughters
“Diving into the memoir, Rosie’s Daughters, was like reading a fun history book where I recognized five generations of my own family. I love the unique format of this book. If I were studying history, I could cram for the test just by riding the ‘fast track’ timeline that runs across the bottom of each page….Rosie’s Daughters should be required reading for women’s studies courses.” -Betty Auchard, speaker and award-winning memoir author of Dancing in My Nightgown
“Rosie’s Daughters is the story of a relatively unsung generation of women, a generation that has powerfully shaped our lives today….The book is a unique combination of personal stories, research, history, art and the author’s own reflections, engagingly written and beautifully presented. This is social history without the turgid prose, a compilation of interviews without the annoying interruption of flow–even a motivational book without the saccharine–in the appealing voice of a perceptive author….Indeed, Rosie’s Daughters offers to all a prototype of how to present a rich feast of important information in an appealing, accessible way.” -Geneva Overholser, Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting, University of MO, and past editor, Des Moines Register
“Rosie’s Daughters is the first collective memoir of an entire generation of women–and what a generation it is. Women born between 1940-1945 (my generation!) danced to Elvis, went to college, burned our bras, married and had babies (or sometimes just had babies), climbed career ladders, and fought gender discrimination. Rosie’s Daughters helps us understand the social contexts within which our stories have taken place. It is impressively conceived and vividly told.” -Susan Wittig Albert, best-sell author of the China Bayles mystery series and founder of the Story Circle Network
“Five Stars for Rosie’s Daughters…Butler and Bonnett skillfully weave personal stories, history, and psychological knowledge and insight into this collective memoir of women born during World War II. Their premise is that, yes, individuals are shaped by the times in which they live, but females are additionally shaped by the females who preceded them….Replete with photos, a running timeline, and sidebars by other famous Rosie’s daughters, this book is engaging, readable, and insightful. It provides numerous ‘aha’ moments about life and living. This is an important book. I give it two thumbs up and five stars!” -Patricia Roberts
“The book was absolutely wonderful! I read about myself in so many of the stories, not just my own. I cried over times gone buy, opportunities gone by, and with joy that my life experiences have given me wisdom with so many. My intention is to go back and read it again, highlighting some of the points that will help others and studying some of the suggested life lessons.” -JLA
“…a masterful job of weaving many voices into a text that is easy to read and filled with ‘Aha!’ moments. Rosie’s Daughters is a stunning contribution to the history of the ‘movement’ in America. I take it as a given that Rosie’s Daughters will be a textbook in every Women’s Studies course across the country, but it deserves a wide readership among the general public as well.” -Beth Proudfoot, director of the East of Eden Writers Conference
“Rosie’s Daughters is a testament to the old, a recording of adventures experienced and lessons provided by a unique generation of women. There is much to learn. There is even more to enjoy.” -Walter Bortz, MD, author of bestselling Dare to Be 100 and past-president of American Geriatrics Society
“The presentation of Rosie’s Daughters adds to the book’s importance. It is not linear; rather, it is elliptical, with each page turning into a new two-page spread, including historical information in the center, statements from interviews at the top, comments from famous women in the age group along the sidebars, and a running commentary of the times along the bottom of each page. You are in the middle of this multi-source of information and stimulation. You are part of the action.”-Edith Henderson Grotberg, Ph.D., author of Tapping Your Inner Strength and co-author of Creative Anger, and lecturer at George Washington University
“Reading Rosie’s Daughters makes me proud of the women who have gone before us….Matilda Butler encourages us to consider our worth and spend it wisely as powerful and empowered women.” -Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple
“Ever heard of the FW2 generation? I hadn’t heard this phrase, until I read Rosie’s Daughters: The ‘First Woman To’ Generation Tells Its Stories. What a good book this is!…This is an inspirational read that reminds us again that it’s not only the famous who make history; it’s not only the rich and powerful who can change the world. -Kim Pearson, author of Making History: Writing Your Own Story who also writes a Seattle P-I Reader Blog.
Remember this is a one-day sale, 25% off only on Labor Day, September 6, 2010.
UPDATE: Here are the promised brief statements from my interviews. The book contains extended stories of the lives of women born during World War II. Precursors to the Baby Boomers.
JoEllen said:
“I pushed myself to the limit to try to be the wife that I had been brought up to be, the career woman that I had been trained to be, and the mother that I was trying to be. We all went through that—remember the ad with the woman saying, ‘I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never, never, never let you forget you’re a man.’ That’s how I was. I was going to do it all. Actually for a while I did.”
Lucy told me:
“When I was in high school I thought about becoming a Foreign Service officer. That was before a most patronizing man at the State Department said to me, ‘Look honey, if you want to go overseas you should come on board as a secretary. That’s your best shot at getting an overseas tour. We only hire men as professionals.’”
Georgia’s story will remind you of what it was like for women to enter the male domain:
“I asked for a transfer to the phone company’s office in Memphis and was made plant manager. My husband went on ahead of me to set up the house and start his new position. One morning, in the new home, he was chatting with the phone installer and the guy said, ‘You know, things are really changing around this place. I’ve heard there’s some woman coming in as manager.’ Knowing this was me, my husband replied, ‘No kidding? Are you looking forward to that?’ The guy said, ‘I’m going to kill myself. It’s going to be the end of life as I’ve known it.’”
