Times They Were A-Changing

I am pleased to welcome to my blog Kate Farrell, here to introduce a wonderful, exciting women's anthology, just in time for the holidays. 

Linda Joy Myers, Kate Farrell and Amber Lea Starfire launch 

Times They Were A-Changing: Women Remember the '60s and '70s. The book is the perfect gift for opening discussions with friends and family members and illustrating what a powerful time the '60s and '70s truly were.

Forty-eight powerful stories and poems etch in vivid detail breakthrough moments experienced by women during the life-changing era that was the ’60s and ’70s. These women rode the sexual revolution with newfound freedom, struggled for identity in divorce courts and boardrooms, and took political action in street marches. They pushed through the boundaries, trampled the taboos, and felt the pain and joy of new experiences. And finally, here, they tell it like it was.Through this collection of women’s stories, we celebrate the women of the ’60s and ’70s and the importance of their legacy.

Kate Farrell shares a little more insight into this amazing anthology.

They say the planets were aligned just so in the ’60s, that the Earth was bombarded with cosmic influences, that we were witnesses to the dawning of a new age. Who can really explain the explosion of social change that did seem to come “out of the blue” and affect us all, no matter if we lived in small towns or urban centers?

When the three of us editors put our heads together to spin the stories of our memories from those times, it was surprising how much passion they still held. In some ways, our tales were the coming of age stories of any generation. But for a young woman coming of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the sky was the limit. There were so many ways to experiment. 

The fact that young women did participate in the counterculture or as political activists could be shocking, and it took courage and willingness to risk. That edge, that passion was still alive in how we shared our daring do with one another. To share the passion of the times and what that meant for women became our motivation as editors.

Often that meant sharing secrets. Later decades became more conventional; some ‘60s experiences were best left in the past. What was exciting about editing this anthology was remembering those wilder times, reading other women’s stories that stirred our hidden memories, cheering our authors on when they bared difficult, taboo, or unspoken experiences—ones that had shaped their lives. 

How the ‘60s & ‘70s came about, we’ll never really know. But if cosmic vibrations created them, those vibes linger and move us still. With our anthology and its authentic stories and poems, we hope to share an exciting legacy with our readers, and its spirited passion for change.

Kate Farrell earned a M.A. from UC Berkeley; taught language arts in high schools, colleges, and universities; founded the Word Weaving storytelling project in collaboration with the California Department of Education with a grant from the Zellerbach Family Fund, and published numerous educational materials. She is founder of Wisdom Has a Voice memoir project and edited Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter’s Memories of Mother (2011). Farrell is president of Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, a board member of Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club, member of Story Circle Network and National Association of Memoir Writers.

Find out more about the book online:

at Amazon 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TimesTheyWereAChanging

Times They Were A-Changing blog: http://www.timestheywereachanging.com

Twitter: @womensmemoir60s

Thanks for visiting my blog today, Kate.

As always feel free to comment.