Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women [Hardcover]

Prill Boyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Every day, regular women are accomplishing extraordinary things later in life. Prill Boyle gathered the encouraging stories of twelve daring and determined women who accomplished incredible things at an age when most people are beginning to wind down.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

DEFYING GRAVITY tells the tales of a dozen remarkable women who reversed their courses in mid-life and never stopped dreaming:

• Wini Yunker joined the Peace Corps at age 65, then embarked on a two-year tour of the Ukraine.
• Rainelle Burton overcame dyslexia, homelessness and depression to publish her acclaimed first novel, The Root Worker, at age 52.
• Irma Elder, a shy housewife until she was widowed at age 52, is now the CEO of one of the ten largest Hispanic-owned companies in the nation.
• Jo Fuchs Luscombe was 48 when she won a seat in the Connecticut House of Representatives. She was elected Minority Whip eight years later.
• Linda Bach became a doctor at 50, about the same time her daughter graduated college.
• Jean Kelly, once a teenage mother on welfare, earned her Ph.D. and became a community college administrator at 49.
• Evelyn Gregory, a retired bank vice-president, realized a life-long dream at 71 years old and became a flight attendant.
• Patricia Symonds earned a GED in her 40’s, a Ph.D. in her 50’s, and became a professor of anthropology at Brown University at age 60.
• Mary Orlando was 62 when she bought the historic home she grew up in and turned it into a successful bed & breakfast.
• Jean Karotkin discovered a talent for professional photography at age 47 after a life changing bout with breast cancer. Body & Soul, her book of photos featuring breast cancer survivors, will be published this summer.
• Maureen Horkan was 33 and fed-up with abusive boyfriends and dead-end jobs. She made it into Smith College, went on to law school, and is now an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville, Florida.
• Jane Work graduated from college at 50 and eventually opened her own private practice and became a Gestalt therapist. At 87, she continues to see some patients.

From the Author

"Whether we’re in the first flowering of adulthood or the autumn of our lives, most of us long to do something that energizes us and fills us with joy. We hope to make a difference, to leave a sense of ourselves behind to germinate in future generations. But all too often, we settle for far less and toil away at jobs that are smaller than our spirits."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Clerisy Press, Emmis Books (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578601541
• ISBN-13: 978-1578601547
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,337,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soaring High on Your Own Wings, August 3, 2004

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women (Hardcover)

Defying Gravity is one of the few books about midlife that combines realism with inspiration. Author Boyle interviewed twelve women who were determined to follow their dream, as we are so often advised to do. They didn't win lotteries or buy themselves new careers. They made choices, worked hard and won.

Perhaps most famous is the 70-year-old Mesa AIrlines flight attendant, who's been profiled in AARP magazine. She'd always wanted to fly and now that weight and vision restrictions are relaxed, she's up there having a ball. She began with a position as a gate agent, using those contacts to reach her ultimate goal.

Ironically, another woman had been a flight attendant, but realized she couldn't complete her college degree while flying. One person's dream is another's past life.

Rejected from the Peace Corps in her twenties, another woman finally made it to Eastern Europe as a business consultant. She describes in (literally) wrenching detail her struggle to meet the Peace corps health requirements, going so far as to have three healthy teeth pulled.

Academic dreams ranged from law school to a Seven Sisters college. They may have had to apply more than once, but once there, they excelled and rejoiced.

Twelve diverse dreams, all achieved by persistence, determination and sacrifice. They knew exactly what they wanted and remained focused. And they're all winners.

Author Boyle intersperses the stories with her own journal of writing the book. Rejected by fourteen publishers, she and her agent persisted. As a writer myself, I find these reports a little too close to home, but I'm very glad she persisted. And as a career consultant, I suggest that these women will be role models to those who can cling to a dream.

However, we shouldn't be too quick to say, "If they can do it, anyone can!" Women who find themselves adrift, whether through layoffs or their own internal shifts, rarely have a sense of what they want to do. Dreams can't be created in a workshop or even several months of coaching. They have a life of their own.

And women who have enjoyed successful careers often want to keep going rather than find new adventure or meaning. They aren't necessarily ready for sacrifice, yet when a job goes away and you're over-fifty, the system offers little help.

However, Defying Gravity does suggest a new way to think about the rest of a life: Soar to a dream. Reframe your next move as a great adventure. And, if you really want adventure, go for it!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Its never too late to be what you might have been!, March 12, 2005

By 

KT "loves to read" (White Plains, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women (Hardcover)

"Defying Gravity" is a must read for any women "of a certain age" who yearns for a new career but thinks she's over the hill. Each chapter is a different story about a late blooming woman who went on to live out her dream. The author's ability to find the voice of each "late bloomer" as well as her own journal entries at the end of each chapter makes the book easy reading.

These are ordinary women, who after raising a family, working at other jobs, created careers beyond their wildest dreams, at forty, fifty even sixty years old.

Who should read this book? Anybody who has ever thought I'd love to... but I'm too old. Or anybody who just wants to read a good book.

As a perennial late bloomer, I now have documentation that my own dreams can come true, if I work for them.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loved it!, June 10, 2004

By 

Pamela Miles (Westport, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women (Hardcover)

I loved Defying Gravity because it had all the elements of a terrific book. It was a great read. I was moved to cry and laugh and most of all it inspired me! Prill's journal entries intertwined between the first person accounts of women's lives and accomplishments tied the whole thing together for me. Prill's honest account of her own life experiences is courageous and touching. Her ability to capture the sprit of these 12 women and share their stories is amazing. It's a beautiful book that I can't wait to share with my Mom, my sisters, and my cousins, friends and colleagues.