The Evolution of a Mormon Feminist: The Life and Writings of Ione Rich Washburn

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This book is a comprehensive collection of the writings of Ione Washburn, a feminist writer, activist, and businesswoman. Her life provides a vivid portrait of the second major wave of the women's movement, which occurred between the 1960s and the 1980s. The collection showcases Ione's work across diverse genres, including biography, autobiography, essays, stories, reflections, poetry, and letters.

These writings chronicle Ione's feminist journey against the backdrop of the Mormon culture that shaped her early life. They reveal how her struggles as a single parent of three children, her drive for academic and professional accomplishment, and her quest for authentic self-expression as a woman led her to question the faith of her youth and challenge the patriarchal assumptions of traditional culture. They also shed light on how her feminist journey deepened her appreciation of the lives of others, with particular gratitude for her Mormon ancestors, especially her great-grandmothers-pioneer women who helped settle Utah and southern Idaho.

Ione's writings, although diverse in genre, share fundamental themes. A primary theme is that revisiting earlier stages of one's life can reveal not only the younger selves one has left behind but also the deeper, authentic self that was evolving through those stages. Ione's writings explore how, by examining our lives, we can grow in self-understanding, empathy for others, and appreciation for life.

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Author Bio

MICHAEL WASHBURN is professor emeritus of philosophy at Indiana University South Bend and the author of four books on the psychology of spirituality.