Coming Soon! New Book Cover, Title and Publishing Date
DUSTY ROADS
Meet Dusty Roads, the hidden figure who really ignited the women’s movement! The captivating and empowering tale begins in the early 1950s and explores Dusty’s fight against American Airlines’ employment policies firing stewardesses at thirty-two and banning marriage. This was a time when there was no feminist movement. The airlines wanted stewardesses to be perpetually young, single, and attractive to entice traveling businessmen to buy tickets. The airline also knew firing them was an economic decision, allowing significant savings on benefits and retirement payouts. The same rule did not apply to any male steward in the airline industry. Dusty was incensed and vowed to fight the policy since she was not affected, having been hired before the rule and, thus, “grandmothered” from it. She had nothing to lose by fighting for her younger colleagues and did it because it was the right thing to do. She became a union leader, organizer negotiator, and one of the first female lobbyists in Congress. She helped write a bill to overturn the age policy, but it was ridiculed by the all-male committee as “The Old Broads Bill” and failed. That’s when she knew she wasn’t just fighting the airline industry; she was fighting national gender discrimination. She helped a colleague file the first discrimination complaint in the United States with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission based on the sex amendment in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when the agency opened in 1965. Dusty became the most influential voice in her union, and her story captures the essence of her pivotal role in shaping a more inclusive and equal society.
When asked how the women’s movement helped her cause, she said, “They weren’t doing anything. We started it. They were doing absolutely nothing. The National Organization for Women (NOW) wasn’t even in existence. In fact, when NOW came along, they adopted our problem as one of their causes, but we started this thing. We were this little voice way out in the wilderness.”
~Interview with Dusty Roads, PBS Radio Interview
The story of
Elaine Rock
As a women’s rights advocate, historian, and former technology executive, Elaine writes about bold and extraordinary women and men who became trailblazers against gender discrimination. Her stories call attention to the potential loss of civil rights we may be taking for granted today and hopes to inspire her readers to be resolute in defending the freedoms previously won through decades of dedicated work and persistence. Elaine has published memoirs and non-fiction stories about how she and other women and men triumphed over personal and workplace adversities and emerged transformed. She is a member of various writers, history, and women’s organizations, a former vice-president of the California Writers Club—Redwood Branch, and co-chair of the Redwood Writers 2018 Pen to Published Writers Conference. In addition, she is a photographer and swimmer. She lives in Sonoma County, California.
Published Works
“Feeling Lucky.” A short story in Remember When: Fiction & Memoir Tales of Memories and Times Past.
“You Don’t Need Fingers to Live.” A short story in ENDEAVOR: Stories of Struggle and Perseverance.
“Sisters Before We Knew It.” A short story in Redemption: Stories from the Edge.
“El Diablo.” A poem in PHOENIX: Out of Silence…And Then.
“History in Our Midst.” A short story in SONOMA: Stories of a Region and its People.
