One of the teenage girls who waited in line for me to sign her book yesterday afternoon had a voice like a young Viola Davis. “You are a POWerful person,” she told me, stressing the “pow”in powerful. Just in case I didn’t hear her, she said it again. “You must be a POWerful person,“ she […]

Every year the Cliff Dwellers (a private arts club in Chicago) invites girls from nearby public high schools and their teachers to join them for a special lunch to celebrate International Women’s Day. Last year the keynote speaker for the event was Toni Preckwinkle, one of the two African American women in the upcoming run-off […]

Just got back last night from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois — Mike drove Whitney and me down there so I could give a presentation to a lecture hall of 400+undergraduates enrolled in an Animal Sciences class at the University of Illinois. Inspired by the Pick of the Litter documentary Mike posted about on Monday, I spent a […]

This morning my Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I take off for Union Station to head to the Chicago suburbs. It’s Disability Awareness Week at Wilmot Elementary School in Deerfield, and we’re slated to give a presentation to eight- and nine-year-olds. The third graders are studying Helen Keller, and you can bet I’ll be publishing […]

Looking for something to do this Thursday night, October 11? Here’s a great idea from the Facebook page of Women And Children First Bookstore in Chicago: Jean Thompson in conversation with Beth Finke Join us as we welcome Jean Thompson for a conversation with Beth Finke about Thompson’s new novel, A Cloud in the Shape […]