Dear Princess Grace, Dear Betty

The Memoir of a Romantic Feminist

"Alida Brill's account of coming of age during the second wave of feminism offers an invaluable perspective to women raised on the Internet."  —Julie Zeilinger, founder of the FBomb blog A candid and insightful memoir by the feminist writer and social critic Alida Brill, Dear Princess Grace, Dear Betty spans her life from the onset of the modern women's movement in the early 1960s through the second wave in the '70s and '80s in which she became a leading figure and spokesperson. Her story begins in a postwar suburban town in Orange County, California, when, as a young girl, she wrote a letter to her idol, Princess Grace of Monaco; to her astonishment, she received a reply. Following this cornerstone event of her young years came the arrival of Barbie, in 1959, who represented an entirely different kind of woman in her stylish looks and zebra-striped swimsuit. Then, in 1964, the publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan caused a seismic shift, propelling Alida into a life of writing and activism. Along the way she became the close personal friend and confidante of Betty Friedan, and the two of them shared a bond not only due to their personal beliefs but also because both suffered from chronic illness: Friedan with chronic asthma and Brill with a rare auto-immune disease. This book presents Brill's inspirational message and quiet wisdom obtained from her four decades at the heart of the women's movement.