​
We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk!
-Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai planted a lot of trees. Over 50,000 of them to be exact. 

Professor Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya in 1977. She saw planting trees as a means to address issues women in many communities were facing: food scarcity, lengthier walks to gather wood for fuel, and streams drying up. The women could plant seedlings and earn a small amount of money, and the resulting trees would provide food, firewood and shade, and retain soil.

Eventually, the Green Belt Movement trained over 30,000 women in forestry and other skills, giving them agency and a way to manage the land in their communities. Tree nurseries were created to expand the availability of seedlings. Through small grants, Green Belt was able to pay the women when their seedlings survived for six months. 

Teaching women skills and giving them meaningful work went against cultural mores, and Professor Maathai was publicly ridiculed by members of parliament, verbally abused by the president, physically beaten by government police and hired thugs, and jailed several times. Yet, she persevered.

Early on in Green Belt’s formation, a huge order of seedlings arrived but Professor Maathai had nowhere to put them. She ended up filling her yard and house to the bursting point with the trees, much to her then-husband’s dismay. Later, when the Green Belt Movement was more established and had a large number of employees, the ruling government party Kenya African National Union or KANU, sent the police to kick Green Belt out of their office. Professor Maathai set up shop in her small home, cramming dozens of people into the tiny space. 

Professor Maathai fought for decades on behalf of women and planting trees. She served on political committees within Kenya, and was recognized globally for her work, serving as the United Nations Messenger of Peace and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. 

She believed that empowering people to take action within their communities, working for the common good, and to stand strong together, was the path to true democracy. Planting trees was an integral part of this work, and also was a way to promote peace and goodwill. 

Professor Maathai rallied people to plant trees to call attention to the planned destruction of Uhuru Park, a major city park in Nairobi. She also rallied a large group of women to protest political prisoners - this peaceful protest lasted for over a year. When KANU was secretly instigating violence between rural villages, Professor Maathai disguised herself and at great risk traveled to those communities to understand what was happening. She encouraged the people of battling villages to plant seedlings together as a means to mend the rifts between them. 

Wangari Maathai never gave up. By showing up to plant trees even in the face of violent opposition, by voicing the truth and encouraging people to speak up in the face of government injustice, and by teaching women the skills to benefit themselves and their communities, she planted seeds of dignity and of hope.

​
Sources/Learn More

• The Greenbelt Movement
• Unbowed, A Memoir, by Wangari Maathai

​
Originally published January 2025

​Imagine not being allowed to enter a running race because you are a woman. 

That was the state of things in the late 1960’s, when Kathrine Switzer joined the Syracuse men’s running team. She began running with an older coach, Arnie, who became a consistent running partner, sharing his stories from his decades of training and racing. 

One December evening when finals had just completed, Arnie showed up for their evening 10-miler, despite the blizzard conditions. Kathrine resisted but was finally persuaded to head out. They ran along roadsides, dodging cars, their canvas sneakers and cotton sweats soaked by the winter storm. At one point in their conversation, Arnie mentioned that a “girl” could not run the Boston marathon - a distance of 26.2 miles. Kathrine stopped in her tracks and held her ground, until they had an agreement: if she could run 26 miles in training, they’d do the Boston Marathon.

Kathrine trained all winter, without telling her boyfriend or her parents about her goal. She and Arnie completed 31 miles one training day, and the next day Arnie brought her the application for Boston. They had examined the rules, and nowhere did it state that females could not enter, although at that time the couple of women who did participate hid in the bushes near the start and jumped in, then jumped out right before the finish.

Switzer, a journalism student, completed her application with the name K.V. Switzer, as that was her byline. Her medical clearance required for the race stated her full name. Her application was accepted and she was officially entered in the Boston Marathon. 

The Boston Marathon is always run on Patriot’s Day, the third Monday in April. 

At the starting line on April 19th, 1967, Kathrine, accompanied by Coach Arnie, her boyfriend Big Tom, and Arnie’s friend John, were warmly greeted by the male runners all around. A few miles into the marathon, a press vehicle drove up, and race director Jock Semple jumped out. A large, imposing man, he began to physically and verbally attack Switzer, screaming that “no woman can be in this race!” He tried to rip her number off, and she managed to avoid him though she was in complete shock from the unexpected onslaught. Tom stepped with a body block that sent Semple to the curb, and the foursome ran on, worried about reprisal, or possible arrest. Tom accused Kathrine of causing him to get in trouble and ruining his Olympic chances for track and field, ripped up his own race numbers, and took off. Kathrine would eventually pass him, still on the course, and though he begged her to slow up and stay with him, she chose to continue running. 

She had begun to understand, not only from Semple’s attack, but from the variety of reactions of female spectators (loud cheers, frozen silence, hostility), that her finishing Boston was infinitely more than simply running a race, and certainly not a stunt which some were suspicious of. It was about finishing strong, and showing what women were capable of. 

Kathrine was so focused on what this race had come to mean, and still processing all that had happened, that they were up and over Heartbreak Hill without her even realizing it. She might have not only been the first woman to officially run Boston, but also the first person to be unaware of Heartbreak Hill!

Keep in mind that back then, there were no aid stations, and they did not drink or eat. Kathrine finished in 4 hours 20 minutes - quite a decent time. Her feet were so covered in blisters that she was treated by a doctor at the finish line. She, and the pictures of Semple attacking her, became national news. Check out this video of the story from Kathrine herself.

Following Boston, Kathrine became a lifelong advocate for women’s running. She also trained intensely, and would eventually run the 6th fastest time in the world (at the time) at Boston - a 2:51 in 1975, and she won the New York City Marathon - 3:07 in 1974. She remains the last resident of New York to win the New York City Marathon, and her margin of victory over the next woman finisher (27:14) remains the biggest margin of victory in that race. In 2017, at the age of 70, Kathrine Switzer ran Boston, 50 years after her first running of it. Her time was 4:45. 

Switzer went on to champion women’s running, traveling globally to promote races as the founder of Avon Running Global Women’s Circuit. Those races, over 400 in 27 countries, for over a million women, were a factor in her successful lobbying to finally have the women’s marathon event in the 1984 Olympics. Kathrine, fittingly, was commentator, as Joan Benoit Samuelson decisively won the day.

I think of Kathrine Switzer on cold snowy training mornings, knowing that my modern technical gear keeps me dry. On long runs, I have a vest I can stuff with hydration and food. I know I can enter any race I want to and the race director will not try to rip my number off. 

My weeks of early runs, long work days, and volunteer work on evenings and weekends for the things I’m passionate about also remind me of her. She put in more time than I, and sacrificed her health at one point. Her accomplishment of inspiring women all over the world to run, and bringing the women’s marathon to the Olympics, created opportunities for women, and allowed many to believe in themselves, some for the first time. 


Sources/Learn More
Kathrine Switzer website
Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer

This year, the Boston Marathon will be run on April 21st. 

We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk!
-Wangari Maathai


Wangari Maathai planted a lot of trees. Over 50,000 of them to be exact. 

Professor Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya in 1977. She saw planting trees as a means to address issues women in many communities were facing: food scarcity, lengthier walks to gather wood for fuel, and streams drying up. The women could plant seedlings and earn a small amount of money, and the resulting trees would provide food, firewood and shade, and retain soil.

Eventually, the Green Belt Movement trained over 30,000 women in forestry and other skills, giving them agency and a way to manage the land in their communities. Tree nurseries were created to expand the availability of seedlings. Through small grants, Green Belt was able to pay the women when their seedlings survived for six months. 

Teaching women skills and giving them meaningful work went against cultural mores, and Professor Maathai was publicly ridiculed by members of parliament, verbally abused by the president, physically beaten by government police and hired thugs, and jailed several times. Yet, she persevered.

Early on in Green Belt’s formation, a huge order of seedlings arrived but Professor Maathai had nowhere to put them. She ended up filling her yard and house to the bursting point with the trees, much to her then-husband’s dismay. Later, when the Green Belt Movement was more established and had a large number of employees, the ruling government party Kenya African National Union or KANU, sent the police to kick Green Belt out of their office. Professor Maathai set up shop in her small home, cramming dozens of people into the tiny space. 

Professor Maathai fought for decades on behalf of women and planting trees. She served on political committees within Kenya, and was recognized globally for her work, serving as the United Nations Messenger of Peace and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. The very long list of her awards, achievements, and honorary degrees can be found here.

She believed that empowering people to take action within their communities, working for the common good, and to stand strong together, was the path to true democracy. Planting trees was an integral part of this work, and also was a way to promote peace and goodwill. 

Professor Maathai rallied people to plant trees to call attention to the planned destruction of Uhuru Park, a major city park in Nairobi. She also rallied a large group of women to protest political prisoners - this peaceful protest lasted for over a year. When KANU was secretly instigating violence between rural villages, Professor Maathai disguised herself and at great risk traveled to those communities to understand what was happening. She encouraged the people of battling villages to plant seedlings together as a means to mend the rifts between them. 

Wangari Maathai never gave up. By showing up to plant trees even in the face of violent opposition, by voicing the truth and encouraging people to speak up in the face of government injustice, and by teaching women the skills to benefit themselves and their communities, she planted seeds of dignity and of hope.

Sources/Learn More

• The Greenbelt Movement
• Unbowed, A Memoir, by Wangari Maathai

For my birthday a few days ago, one of my daughter’s gifts to me was a delicate silver bracelet centered with an oval portrait of Frida Kahlo. Frida’s black hair is pulled up in her trademark style, adorned in vibrant red flowers. 

Frida Kahlo is a fascinating woman. Some of her story is in this blog post from August 2023. Despite intense physical pain, she created prolifically on the canvas.  Despite the exhausting chronic nature of the pain she experienced, she devoted hours to her clothing, presenting herself in exquisite and elegant manner. She was open about her ordeals of multiple surgeries and their lack of success to heal her body. She was honest about her emotional pain. Her humor did not subside, even when she was deeply wounded by her husband Diego Rivera, even when she could not carry a baby to full-term, something she wanted very much, even when her pain forced her to lie in bed for weeks on end.

I wear this bracelet, this lovely gift from my dear daughter, and I think not so much of Frida’s pain but of what she created out of that pain. The vivid audacity of her work, a community of artists and friends who loved her fiercely, a legacy of confronting her deepest fears and slicing them wide open, spreading them on the canvas for all to witness. 

Though I do not have the experience of her injuries, nor her skill in painting, I am motivated by her: to tell it like it is, to accept my own shortcomings, to understand that the excruciating edge of life is a part of the deal. When I gaze at her picture there on my arm I think of her fierce conviction in living, and her ability to create beauty and love in her suffering. And I am inspired.

​You’ve probably never heard of Elzada Clover or Lois Jotter. But maybe it's time you should. 

Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny, is the story of how these two intrepid botanists set out to map the plant life of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The 43-day whitewater journey was a harrowing adventure, but their resulting work continues to influence science today, and has led to greater awareness and protection of that river ecosystem. 

In 1938, the two women set off from Green River, Utah, with four men and three small wooden boats: the Botany, the Wen, and the Mexican Hat. Hailing from University of Michigan, Clover was a 42-year-old botany instructor, and assistant curator of the botanical gardens, and Jotter a 24-year-old graduate student working on her PhD. 

The Colorado was considered to be an unruly and dangerous river, where many had died in the attempt to run it. The news reports of the time focused on the novelty of women on the river, and the general consensus that women did not belong on that river. Rather than covering the botanical intent of the trip, reporters drummed up the perils of the Colorado, and wrote about the women applying their make-up and cooking for the men

It is true that Clover and Jotter were up every morning well before the men. They did cook breakfast, and they did apply powder and lipstick. But their time was also spent gathering plant specimens. The plant gathering was a tedious process. They needed to get the entire plant, including root, stem, leaf and flower. The specimens were flattened and arranged carefully and placed in a plant press, consisting of layers of newspaper and thin wood strips. This was all carefully strapped down. For cacti, the pulp had to be scooped out, and the specimen laid just-so to preserve the spines. From their work, four new cacti were identified. 

After hunting plants up steep climbs in the desert heat, they’d go run some serious rapids. The women were not allowed to paddle the rapids (thank goodness that’s changed: currently women make up roughly one-third of Grand Canyon river guides). Sometimes the boats would go through the turbulent water blunt stern-first. Sometimes they’d line the boats - difficult work to climb over boulders on-shore while keeping the boat on a line and walking it down in order to skirt the more burly rapids. 

Ultimately the crew, with a few changes in personnel, floated into Lake Mead alive and well. Clover and Jotter’s work made it back to the University of Michigan, and the two continued to contribute to the field of botany for the rest of their lives. 

In 1994, Jotter made another trip down the Colorado with a group of scientists and other “Old Timers” who’d studied the river ecology prior to the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of Lake Powell. Their observations led to the 1996 policy of the dam releasing large amounts of water in order to stimulate spring river surge and restore some of the river life to the way it was.

Though Clover and Jotter are not household names, their willingness to literally risk their lives to gather botanical information is a fascinating story, and their work has impacted anyone who recreates in or cares about the Colorado River.  

Just upstream from Lake Powell, at the confluence of the Green and Colorado, begins a 41-mile river section known as Cataract Canyon. It was so-named by Powell because of the canyon’s 14 miles of gnarly rapids - so gnarly in fact that Powell and his men did not run a single one of those rapids. When Glen Canyon Dam was built, and Lake Powell filled, over half of Cataract Canyon became impounded, slow water. In recent years, as the water level in Lake Powell has dropped due to overuse and evaporation and drought, the impounded water in Cataract Canyon is diminishing, and is starting to flow again. This has also resulted in some side canyons reemerging. For river runners familiar with this area, two of the side canyons are affectionately known as Clover Canyon and Jotter Canyon, within a stretch known as Botany Aisle. 

Learn More/Sources
The primary source for this blog post.
Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

A short version of the story of Clover and Jotter, with some terrific photos.
University of Michigan Heritage Project: River Rat

American Rivers: Changes in Cataract Canyon

​Twyla Tharp is my kind of person. Her daily habit for years was to rise at 5:30 am, hail a cab outside her New York City apartment, and head to Pumping Iron Gym for two hours of weight lifting and stretching. 

She’s also a proponent of getting better as we get older. Big movements, taking up space with the body, creating, and engaging, all contribute to this remarkable human being continuing to lead a vital life.

If you are not familiar with Twyla Tharp, neither was I until just a few weeks ago. I happened to run across her book “The Creative Habit,” a New York Times Bestseller, and checked it out because it looked interesting. I have since discovered that she is one of the most influential dancers and choreographers in our time. In 1973 she created “Deuce Coupe,” the first “crossover ballet” to combine modern and classical in one piece.

In “The Creative Habit,” Ms. Tharp discusses how consistent practice and process is a foundation for her work. In addition to her gym routine which set her foundation for strength and agility, she described the initial stages of her creative process. For example, with each new idea for a project, she’d start a large box. In would go her initial project notes. Then CDs of music, videos, and those were followed up by in-depth research, so that she had a wealth of material to draw from when she choreographed the final dance. This consistent process of using the box provided an organized structure for her brilliant creations, like the Tony-award winning “Movin’ Out,” a musical set to the tunes of Billy Joel. The final box count for the Billy Joel project: twelve.

Twyla Tharp is now 81 years of age, and literally going strong. In this Twyla Tharp Video: Shut Up and Do What You Love, you can watch her cranking out push-ups as a part of her current morning routine. She also continues to choreograph - her latest work is a retelling of two pieces created in the ‘80s. Twyla Tharp: New York Times Article Oct 2022

What can we learn from her? She’s got some ideas in this Twyla Tharp Video: Lessons from Keep It Moving. 

My big picture takeaway is that consistently moving and strengthening the physical body, using the mind to engage, cultivating a spirit of resilience, and continuing to make what we like to make with whatever form our creativity takes, all contribute to us getting better as we get older.

Originally published January 26, 2023