Pac Rim 2009 Info
Noted Speakers: Charlotte Smith
Polly Arango | Fernando Cruz | Frank De Lima | Frank DeRuyter | Katharina Heyer | Cinda and Linea Johnson | David Johnson | Robert Mcruer | Leolinda Parlin | Tanya and Michelle Ponich | Joseph Ray | Suzanne Robinson | Loretta Ross | Dr. Neil Scott | Howard C. Shane | Charlotte Smith | Bethany Stevens | Damon Terzaghi | Amy Wilson
Monday May 4th, 2009: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM in Room 306A, on topic of Girls and Women
“Race to the Sun: A Woman’s Journey”
My grandmother, my father and I climbed our mountains. Now I am climbing another one, the Mountain of Prosperity for All. The dreams of today can become the realities of tomorrow or next year or twenty years from now. We all need our great dreams, but then we must work to realize them, for dreams are but hollow shells until we fulfill them.
On numberless worlds circling an infinity of stars there are myriads of mountains to climb for eons to come. From those mountaintops countless rivers flow down to rejoin the seas. But no longer do I have to come down from the mountaintop. I may choose to climb higher. For I have opened up the sky.
Let’s have a discussion on what needs to be done to change attitudes and life styles in the 21st century for elders and those with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
Biography: Charlotte George Smith
Charlotte George Smith almost died twice- surviving polio at age ten; five years later surviving surgical malpractice. While she hasn't walked in over half a century, Smith became the first paraplegic woman to earn a pilot's license. She also learned to swim after she had polio, learned to ride horseback long before it was considered possible for wheelchair users, and flew around the world in 30 days with her club of licensed women pilots.
Smith earned two degrees in biological sciences. then was hired by NASA to specialize in aerospace biomedicine. But NASA forced her into secretarial work, and later tried to fire her. She blocked the attempt and filed suit, charging discrimination on the basis of gender and disability. The judge agreed, and awarded promotion and back pay.
She flew around the world in 30 days with her club of licensed women pilots, ending by attending an aerospace medicine conference at London’s Royal College of Surgeons.
Now Smith is publishing the second edition of her memoir, Race the Sun! She sees herself as a role model who can inspire others about what it means to live a long, successful life with or without a chronic illness or disability.
