Marina Julia Neary grew up in Belarus (a republic of the former USSR) in a family of professional musicians who raised her in the spirit of Western individualism. Her mother taught piano at a music academy, and her father, a national laureate, was a prominent vocal coach whose students went on to becoming world-class opera singers.
In a society where individualism was ersecuted, Marina was frequently at odds with her peers and school teachers.
She found consolation in Catholicism her Polish-born father introduced her to this religion - which was frowned upon by the predominantly atheistic government. At the age of 10 she began writing her first historical novellas. She did not dare to show those pieces to her teachers, because the ideas expressed in them went against the Communist grain.
In 1992 her family came to the United States. Even though her parents got divorced shortly after, Neary was thrilled to be in a country where individual freedom was valued. Her literary voice, much like her spoken accent, is a mixture of European, British and North American.
For someone who has symbolised courage and dignity in the face of
personal tragedy, Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain American journalist
Daniel Pearl, is currently busy producing a documentary on the lives of
similar inspirational women.
Titled Resilient, it profiles women from around the globe who have
battled war, abject poverty, sexual discrimination and tremendous odds
not only to alter their own lives but also to transform the society in
which they live.
"My work is an antidote to spread hope in a world haunted by fear," says Pearl in a telephonic interview from Paris.
The documentary traces the lives of women featured in Pearl's book In Search of Hope: The Global Diaries of Mariane Pearl.
One of Pearl's favourite story is of Fatima Elayoubi, a cleaning
lady and a Moroccan immigrant in Paris, who found time after scrubbing
floors to pen a memoir titled Prière à la Lune (Prayer to the Moon).
The book not only became a best-seller but also opened everyone's
eyes to the harsh realities of the lives of immigrant workers in big
cities such as Paris.
An article about Charm, Grace, Elegance and Calm in the face of adversity.
Maria Assumpta Hodgson, (nee Rickard) died on the 12th of August 2009, following a rapid decline in her well being due to a failing Liver. It was the culmination of 3 years and 10 months as a beautiful woman dealing with the daunting challenges of living with and fighting Breast Cancer.
I am Maria’s husband Jeremy, and am writing this article from my apartment in Abu Dhabi, in the Breast Cancer Awareness Month of October 2009, which aims to highlight the need for women of the UAE to be ever more vigilant in the early detection and treatment of Breast Cancer. Maria shared her birthday with the National Day of the UAE, 2nd December.
To women of any location reading this, the view is from a close observer of Maria’s struggle, and from a person concerned for all patients receiving treatment for Cancer of any kind but especially for those women and their special ones aiming to survive Breast Cancer.
I thought that the following very brief clinical, outline of a very sad, traumatic period that our family endured would perhaps be of interest
It is meant to portray the incredible strength / spirit and courage that my wife has in abundance.
Our son was an exceptional basket ball player who played in the Local comp.
His natural abilities soon had him in the town squad team and also the “Junior Pacers team,” representing the very best players in this district.
It was whilst coming home from a “Pacers” game in the city and traveling to local squad training that an accident occurred.
At approx 5.45pm on the 18th February 1996, while I was employed on an oil rig offshore the family car driven by my wife was struck by a train traveling at 87kph on a level crossing within a large town, killing our only 11yr old son/ child instantly.
The car was pushed 550 meters along the track with the train under full emergency brakes before finally stopping...
If I were writing my autobiography, the chapter detailing my life in
2001/2002 would be titled “Journey: Interrupted.”
I was 45 years old
and had been going about my business, living a normal life, working
full time, helping my husband raise teenaged children from his first
marriage, enjoying our home, time with friends, and my new hobby of
rubber stamping and collage art.
Then came the startling news: Stage
II Infiltrating Ductal Breast Cancer.
I began this Journey:
Interrupted like one begins any lengthy journey that ventures into the
medical world- with fear, trepidation… and lots of resistance. I was
about to go through through 3 surgeries, 12 weeks of chemotherapy, and
42 radiation treatments. Who wouldn’t resist that?
But I soon realized all of that resistance was exhausting me instead of helping me to heal...
Feminism stems from a strong belief that equal opportunity; rights and
respect should be given irrespective of gender. Unfortunately in the
society we live in feminism has always been kept under scrutiny. It’s
considered more of an inclination towards female chauvinism than a
struggle against gender bias.
What most of the people fail to realize is that women right activist
are like any other human right activists fighting against gender bias.
Regardless of the allegations the struggle towards equal women rights
and opportunities continue.
However the struggle is not only against the norms but much more is
required to reach out and help. The list begins with lack of funds,
opportunities, and the fear of breaking taboos. Quite often cultural
barriers also play their role in snubbing voices. Fortunately we still
have women who do not accept any of these as an excuse and continue
their struggle irrespective of the norms.
One such woman is Rana Tauqeer, the founder of ZeyroZabar, an online
Urdu magazine, which started off as women’s magazine and has now become
the resource for the entire family. The idea of ZeyroZabar is not only
highlighting women rights and their issues it is about emancipation of
women. An ideology set to trigger a pivotal change to the society with
a mere notion “empowering women for a better future.”
Tauqeer’s journey began when she moved to Canada with her family. After
working with an election office as an office manager Rana explored the
South Asian media and its diverse readership in Canada. Tauqeer recalls
her experience thus:
Susan notes: this is the story of Dr. Janet Rose Wojtalik, powerful advocate for creating the female leaders of the future. I've cut and paste it from her great (and FREE!) e-book The 7 Secrets of Parenting Girls, which you can download here.
I was born on August 24th, 1953 to Stanley and Agnes. The second of three children, I grew up in a warm, loving, middle class home peppered by typical gender role models: dad was the breadwinner and mom stayed at home, raised the children and took care of the house, the shopping and my father’s paycheck.
Academically, my mom had a high school diploma but dad had to drop out of school in eighth grade to work and help provide for his family. He grew up in the depression era and food on the table at that time was more important that an education for the able-bodied boys in the family.
I have one older sister and one younger brother. We all went to college. That fact in itself had always caused me to wonder why...
Marina Julia Neary grew up in Belarus (a republic of the former USSR) in a family of professional musicians who raised her in the spirit of Western individualism. Her mother taught piano at a music academy, and her father, a national laureate, was a prominent vocal coach whose students went on to becoming world-class opera singers.
For someone who has symbolised courage and dignity in the face of
personal tragedy, Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain American journalist
Daniel Pearl, is currently busy producing a documentary on the lives of
similar inspirational women.
Maria Assumpta Hodgson, (nee Rickard) died on the 12th of August 2009, following a rapid decline in her well being due to a failing Liver. It was the culmination of 3 years and 10 months as a beautiful woman dealing with the daunting challenges of living with and fighting Breast Cancer.
If I were writing my autobiography, the chapter detailing my life in
2001/2002 would be titled “Journey: Interrupted.”
I was born on August 24th, 1953 to Stanley and Agnes. The second of three children, I grew up in a warm, loving, middle class home peppered by typical gender role models: dad was the breadwinner and mom stayed at home, raised the children and took care of the house, the shopping and my father’s paycheck.