Coming Soon!
DUSTY ROADS
How the Women’s Movement Took Flight
Most people think Gloria Steinem or Betty Freidan started the 2nd Wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement. But, Barbara “Dusty” Roads, an American Airlines stewardess and flight attendant, union organizer, negotiator, lobbyist to Washington D.C., and women’s rights trailblazer helped start it all in the 1950s before there was a name for it. In 1954, when she began fighting the airline rules banning marriage and the 1953 regulation firing stewardesses at age 32, there was no “feminist movement” at the time. Dusty Roads: How the Women’s Movement Took Flight is the story of how Dusty became the most powerful voice of her union and whose actions were pivotal in challenging and eventually, overturning these discriminatory rules.
“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
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 and lives with her 15-year-old rescue cat, Princess, 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.
