An activist for women’s rights, equality and social justice, Gloria Steinem has made a profound impact on countless lives.  Steinem began her journalism career in New York and was catapulted into fame for penning an investigative piece on the harsh working conditions at the glamorous Playboy Club.  In 1971 she founded Ms. Magazine, the first magazine to offer a female point of view on a broad range of political and cultural issues.  At that time, the notion of a publication showcasing serious issues examined from a female perspective stirred up considerable controversy and was just one of the many instances in which Steinem served as a lightning rod for political debate.  Steinem is co-founder of the Women’s Action Alliance, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and Choice USA, among other organizations.  She established the Ms. Foundation for Women, an organization dedicated to helping underprivileged women.  A mentor to many younger women, Steinem continues to play a major role in political and cultural debate.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin is an award-winning journalist, opinion writer, and political activist.  She is the author of several nonfiction bestsellers, including Growing Up Free, Getting Over Getting Older, and the novel, Three Daughters.  Throughout her recent bout with breast cancer, Pogrebin became intrigued by her friends’ and family’s diverse reactions to her and her illness.  She began talking to her fellow patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and interviewed dozens of other veterans of serious illness, seeking to discover what sick people wished their friends knew (and were surprised they didn’t know) about how to comfort, help, and even simply talk to them. In How to be a Friend to a Friend Who is Sick, her advice is infused with sensitivity, warmth, and often humor, and is embedded in emotionally candid stories from her own journey through illness.

Temple Grandin is one of the world’s most accomplished and well known adults with autism. She has a PhD in animal science from the University of Illinois and is a professor at Colorado State University. She is the author of four previous books, including the national bestsellers Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation. Dr. Grandin is a past member of the board of directors of the Autism Society of America. She lectures to parents and teachers throughout the U.S. on her experiences with autism, and her work has been covered in the New York Times, People, National Public Radio, and 20/20. Most recently she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year. The HBO movie based on her life, starring Claire Danes, received seven Emmy Awards.