Barbara
Ehrenreich is a social critic and essayist. Her book Nickel and
Dimed (2001) described her attempt to live on low-wage jobs and
became a national bestseller in the United States, selling over
1 million copies; her companion book, Bait and Switch, was released
in September 2005 and discusses her attempt to find a white-collar
job. She is a prolific journalist who peppers her writing with a
sardonic sense of humor.
Born
Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Isely, her father was a copper miner
who went on to study at Carnegie Mellon University and become
an executive at the Gillette Corporation. In 1963, she graduated
with a BA in chemical physics from Reed College and in 1968 she
received a Ph.D. in cell biology from Rockefeller University.
She decided not to pursue a career in science after graduating,
citing her interest in social change, and instead became involved
in politics as an activist. She met her first husband, John Ehrenreich,
doing anti-war activism in New York City. In 1970, she gave birth
to a daughter, Rosa, and later had a son, Ben. She divorced Ehrenreich
and in 1983 married Gary Stevenson, who was then working as a
warehouse employee.
From
1991 to 1997, she was a regular columnist for Time magazine. Currently,
Ehrenreich is a regular columnist with The Progressive.
Ehrenreich
has also written for the New York Times, Mother Jones, The Atlantic
Monthly, Ms, The New Republic, Z Magazine, In These Times, Salon.com,
and other publications. In 1998 and 2000, she taught essay writing
at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California,
Berkeley. In 2004, she wrote a guest column for one month for
the New York Times while regular columnist Thomas Friedman was
on leave writing a book.
She
is an atheist and the vice chair of the Democratic Socialists
of America.
Quotations
"If
that's how it all started, then we might as well face the fact
that what's left out there is a great deal of shrapnel and a whole
bunch of cinders (one of which is, fortunately, still hot enough
and close enough to be good for tanning)."
"The
Republicans hardly need a party and the cumbersome cadre of low-level
officials that form one; they have a bankroll as large as the
Pentagon's budget, dozens of fatted PACs, and the well-advertised
support of the Christian deity."
"The
one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money
that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable,
like taking the kids to movies and theme parks."
"Frankly,
I adore your catchy slogan, "Adoption, not Abortion,"
although no one has been able to figure out, even with expert
counseling, how to use adoption as a method of birth control,
or at what time of the month it is most effective."
"A
child is a temporarily disabled and stunted version of a larger
person, whom you will someday know. Your job is to help them overcome
the disabilities associated with their size and inexperience so
that they get on with being that larger person."
"No matter
that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent,
rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of
patriots." |
