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A refreshingly frank, real-life story of Abandonment, Alcoholism, Abuse, Murder, Love, Tragic Losses, Pushing the Glass Ceiling, Perseverance and Gritty Determination
Reviewers' Comments: “Karen's life story reads like a novel, one that pulls at your heartstrings, but one readers, particularly women, will find inspiring, She is truly a woman of substance – bold, fearless, defiant, determined, strong and brave. She definitely had an "interesting" life.
From a stark early life – born in a charity hospital, abandoned by her father before she was two, living with her grandparents on an Oklahoma cotton farm, a murder leaving her scarred, and two stomach-clenching accidents that could have taken the lives of two of her children - she pulled herself up by her bootstraps to enjoy a successful and satisfying life, interacting with celebrities, foreign diplomats, and politicians, including presidents.
She married at 16 and divorced ten years later. Supporting her four children alone as a single mom on typical "women's wages" in the 50s and 60s, even for an experienced legal secretary, wouldn't cut it. She had to push a lot of gender barriers - like a very short-lived job as a sports reporter, becoming a construction estimator, opening and operating an award-winning motorcycle business in Kansas, (despite never having ridden one before, which provided a few bruises and broken bones) and a commission based auto parts sales job.
Combining full-time work and school, she graduated from college and then law school in her 40s, ultimately becomeing a successful businesswoman and later a successful lawyer, specializing in the field of elder law, often working with people with dementia.
After meeting "the love of her life" and spending one evening together, she went to work the next morning and told her friend, "I just met the man I'm going to marry." That man was former Vietnam Prisoner-of-War Cole Black, who, after more than seven years, had returned home to a broken marriage. Devastated, Cole would require a lot of patience (not Karen's long suit) and persuasion to give love a second chance.
Karen's story is an in-depth look at a time in history many never knew, and others have forgotten – the simplicity of life with her grandparents on Oklahoma cotton farms (one a ghost house) in the early 40s. Imagine that little girl who was driving a tractor, picking cotton and playing poker at five years old went on to travel to all seven continents, walk with and pet lions in Africa and sky dive at 80,
Fortitude is a riveting read - encompassing a rollercoaster of emotional issues, many difficult choices, and depicts in vivid detail what courage, grit, determination, resilience, a little humor and a spirit to bounce back can accomplish
Reviewers' Comments: “Karen's life story reads like a novel, one that pulls at your heartstrings, but one readers, particularly women, will find inspiring, She is truly a woman of substance – bold, fearless, defiant, determined, strong and brave. She definitely had an "interesting" life.
From a stark early life – born in a charity hospital, abandoned by her father before she was two, living with her grandparents on an Oklahoma cotton farm, a murder leaving her scarred, and two stomach-clenching accidents that could have taken the lives of two of her children - she pulled herself up by her bootstraps to enjoy a successful and satisfying life, interacting with celebrities, foreign diplomats, and politicians, including presidents.
She married at 16 and divorced ten years later. Supporting her four children alone as a single mom on typical "women's wages" in the 50s and 60s, even for an experienced legal secretary, wouldn't cut it. She had to push a lot of gender barriers - like a very short-lived job as a sports reporter, becoming a construction estimator, opening and operating an award-winning motorcycle business in Kansas, (despite never having ridden one before, which provided a few bruises and broken bones) and a commission based auto parts sales job.
Combining full-time work and school, she graduated from college and then law school in her 40s, ultimately becomeing a successful businesswoman and later a successful lawyer, specializing in the field of elder law, often working with people with dementia.
After meeting "the love of her life" and spending one evening together, she went to work the next morning and told her friend, "I just met the man I'm going to marry." That man was former Vietnam Prisoner-of-War Cole Black, who, after more than seven years, had returned home to a broken marriage. Devastated, Cole would require a lot of patience (not Karen's long suit) and persuasion to give love a second chance.
Karen's story is an in-depth look at a time in history many never knew, and others have forgotten – the simplicity of life with her grandparents on Oklahoma cotton farms (one a ghost house) in the early 40s. Imagine that little girl who was driving a tractor, picking cotton and playing poker at five years old went on to travel to all seven continents, walk with and pet lions in Africa and sky dive at 80,
Fortitude is a riveting read - encompassing a rollercoaster of emotional issues, many difficult choices, and depicts in vivid detail what courage, grit, determination, resilience, a little humor and a spirit to bounce back can accomplish
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Published April 29, 2023
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