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Welcome to my site!

by Professor Sara Stephens

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My background includes a successful 16-year career in public relations/communications and 15 years as an English/literature/humanities professor. Now in my sunset years, I enjoy bringing notable women to life, mostly authors, but not all. The research, scripts, costuming, slide design and dramatization are fun for me and are, hopefully, enjoyable and informative for my audience.

Below are 2 short clips, one of Beatrix Potter, author and artist for Peter Rabbit and 23 other children’s books, and  the other of Amy  Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club and many other best-selling novels: The Kitchen  God’s Wife, Saving Fish From Drowning,  and The Bonesetter’s Daughter.  Located below the clips are some additional characters I currently portray.  Please contact me if you would like a visit from one of these outstanding ladies.  — Professor Sara Stephens

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Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter was a self-supporting female at a time when this was very unusual.  Through her writing and art, she was able to purchase 16 farms in the Lake District, thus preserving the natural beauty of the land.  Her house, Hill Top Farm, can be seen on the opening page of my site, and because of her generosity, it can be visited today by anyone so interested. Beatrix Potter left 4,000 acres to the National British Trust, which is akin to our National Park system.

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Amy Tan

Amy Tan owes much of her writing career to her mother, with whom she had a tempestuous relationship most of her life.  Her mother wanted Amy to do all the things she could not do while living in China; but Amy resisted becoming a doctor and concert pianist and became a famous writer instead.  The Joy Luck Club, a best seller, and film was her first attempt at writing a novel.

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Bertha Palmer
    

A patron of the arts and advocate for women in Chicago, Bertha Palmer, spouse to Potter Palmer, made her mark everywhere she went. The Impressionist art collection at the Art Institute of Chicago was part of her collection.  She later became known as the queen of Sarasota, Florida where her innovations literally put it “on the map.”

Betty Friedan
    

What Betty Friedan wanted to do most, was give women a choice. If they wanted to stay home and pursue the domestic arts, fine. But if they longed for more education or the chance to contribute in some other way, they should be able to do that. Her other mission was equal pay for equal work, a goal still pending.

Tilly Olsen
     

Tilly Olsen wrote a famous short story  called “I stand Here Ironing” which details single motherhood prior to WWII and up through the 50s,  This was long before the women’s movement of the 70s, when almost nothing was available to help women in this position. Picasso’s vision of “ironing day” looks a bit more gloomy than that suffered by Tilly Olsen, but until permanent press came out in the 1960s, ironing was part of women’s work. It took a lot of time, but provided a chance to ruminate on one’s life. Tilly Olsen’s use of the stream of consciousness technique in this short story was unusual and moving.

New Offerings

Additional 1-2 hour lectures with colorful slides but without costumes or drama are also available.  They are: