POULSBO — The woman on the book’s cover exhibits the joie de vivre depicted on each page within: she’s on a beach, her face exuberant, her hands thrown up as water splashes around her.
Read June Cotner and Barb Mayer’s newest book, “We Are Women / Celebrating Our Wit and Grit,” and it may change how you look at women, particularly the females in your mom, grandmother and great-grandmother’s generations.
Look at those black-and-white or sepia-toned photos in family photo albums or in the antique frames. Serious? Staid? Take another look.
Depending on the setting, that photo may tell the story of a woman who was daring, innovative, fun loving, perhaps even a pioneer who paved the way for later generations of women to enter a field traditionally dominated by men.
Exploring archives, antique stores, and personal and private collections, Cotner and Mayer collected images of women from the first 60 years of the 20th century and, paired with inspirational quotes, produced a book that depicts female character and strength in a new way.
Cotner will sign copies of “We Are Women” (Andrews McMeel, 74 pages) from 2-3:30 p.m. March 5 at Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo.
It’s an empowering book. The book opens with an image of women, smiling, holding tools. “If you want anything said, ask a man,” reads the accompanying quote by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
An early 1920s photo shows three women working on a car. “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. A woman must do what he can’t,” reads the quote by Rhonda Hansome.
A photo of two women riding a motorcycle is accompanied by a quote, “Let’s dare to be ourselves, for we do that better than anyone else can.”
The book features images by famed photographers Alfred Eisenstaedt, Dorothea Lange, and Joseph Steinmetz. The book is a social documentary of sorts.
“The more photos June and I found for the book, the more I had to change my notion that women from the past were staid and serious,” Mayer writes in her introduction. “Within these old photos was a whole new world of fascinating females — women working out at the gym, women pumping gas, women sitting proudly on motorcycles. Dreamer and schemers, the women in these pictures were a far cry from the portraits I’d seen in thrift shops and family photo albums.”
Dreamers, schemers, adventurers, and glass-ceiling shatterers are well-represented in the book.
Cotner’s daughter commented that she was inspired “to go out and live a full life just as they did,” Cotner wrote in her introduction. Her assistant found the images to be a reminder “that woman have always been strong, exciting, fun, and fascinating, and that it was our legacy to continue the tradition.”
The book is best summed up by the opening quote, found on the back of an early 20th century woman’s photograph: “Look upon this face and I know that I was a person, here, in this time and place, and I was happy.”
Buy this book. Ask your mom or aunt or grandmother to tell you her story. And then tell each one that you think they’re cool — because chances are good they’re cooler than you think they are.
The authors
Cotner is the author of more than 30 books, including the best-selling “Graces” and “Bedside Prayers.” Her books have altogether sold more than one million copies.
Mayer is a frequent contributor to Cotner’s anthologies and is an award-winning photographer.
Speaking of empowerment …
Enlighten Kitsap Community Forum presents “The 19th Amendment: A Fight for Women’s Right to Vote” 6-8:30 p.m. March 11 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 700 Callahan Drive, Bremerton.
Connie Waddington and Catherine Ahl of the League of Women Voters will present a discussion on how women fought for 72 years for the right to vote, why it is so important that we remember the struggle, and the importance of using your vote.
Cost: $10 suggested donation at the door. To register: www.EnlightenKitsap.org.
