Leda Sanford was a revolution inside the movement called feminism, meant to obtain equal rights for women, a condition that still eludes even this generation.
But it's not for lack of trying. And Sanford's book is a quirky, sexy romp about a moxie-advantaged woman's escape from the dutiful wife role to make a difference for women everywhere through her then-unprecedented role as publisher of a number of major national shelter publications. A "shelter" magazine is a periodical publication with an editorial focus on interior design, architecture, home furnishings and often gardening.
Sanford will be in Ketchum to speak about her experiences. She self-published the confessional memoir through iUniverse. Once one reads it, it's clear why this is not a woman who waits for someone to do it for her. This is her second book, the first being a collection of inspirational columns called "Look for the Moon in the Morning."
Q) Are you now able to see where you had an impact on women who would come after you?
A) I know I had an impact on many of the younger women who worked for me, and to this day (thanks to Facebook) write to me and thank me for having inspired them. I'd like my book to be widely read by women who will walk away smiling. This was written in a short, breezy style, because I like short books...and I hope it is fun. There is no sadness in my story, no regrets. As Frank (Sinatra) would say, I did it my way.
Q) Is there a demographic that you expect to see at your talk here in Sun Valley?
A) I expect to see boomer women, 40-plus, the same audience that I wrote for while I was director of publications at "Age Wave" in the '90s. Women who are looking for role models, and for reassurance that aging is not their enemy. Two recent examples of dynamic women who are role models of aging have recently been in the media and doing tours—Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda.
Q) You have a need to be heard, that is obvious, with your nickname "Piccola Sapiente," or Little Know-It-All, which was given to you by your father. When did you cross over from being a know-it-all kid to a person confident that although no one was biting on your ideas, that you were not wrong?
A) The evolution from very smart kid (with very good grades) didn't really happen until I was in my 20s. Those years when I was a trapped-housewife Donna Reed type, I read every book written by the early feminists and went to writing classes at the New School in Manhattan. I was active in Planned Parenthood and was ready to march on Washington for equal rights. I've always been an activist.
Q) On its face, this is a very narrow subject area, that of publishing. Many people might not relate to that world. Who was your intended target audience?
A) The subject is reinvention. The subject target is the working women and discontented housewives who long for something, but don't really know what. But it is also a book about a time when everything changed. I think my book is more honest than most of the bios of successful women in business, many of whom I know. They tend to whitewash their lives, and it's hard to find out much from their stories. There are no confessions. Barbara Walters' memoir is one of the most honest.
Q) It's evident you grew up somewhat privileged and that when you walked out on your husband, you walked into a comfortable life with your mother. You seemed to have had a career and lovers and all that without mentioning the balancing act that tears woman up today. You admit your weaknesses in business, but what about parenting?
A) My grandfather was an immigrant who made his small fortune in the moving business. My father never had any money to speak of, so my mother worked for my grandfather. We lived in a modest house in the Bronx. My father went back to Italy when I was 18 and I did not see him again until I went to Italy when I was 40.
Most memoirs by ordinary people focus on the heritage of their families. I really didn't want to do this. I did not walk out on a cushy situation when I left Howard with my two children in tow, one 5 and the other 11. It was a nice life. The best way to describe it is like the story "Revolutionary Road." I was partially helped by my mother, but I downgraded my life, had an apartment over a delicatessen and commuted to New York City every day to work at that first job I got because I projected such enthusiasm for it.
As for parenting, I was a very good, conscientious mother and my ex-husband always lived near us and filled in when I traveled. My mother was also a big support. It would require a few chapters to describe the challenge of raising teenagers while I was crafting this career. By 1975, I was making good money and was living with Mort in Manhattan, paying to send my younger son, Scott, to private school and for Robert to deal with college. These were the most challenging years of my life and coping with my husband's infidelity.
I don't think too many women can relate to my life. It's too unorthodox, but they should be able to relate to me as proof that you must have courage, take chances, reinvent yourself and don't give in to women's tendency to feel sorry for themselves or jealous of other women's possessions or lifestyles.
Q) Did you ever feel like a pawn in the hands of unorthodox men?
A) No! I think in some cases the men thought they were using me, but I was using them. Most risk-oriented men are gamblers at heart and taking a gamble on a woman running your business was gutsy. And, I was likeable.
Q) Was there a personal revelation that this was the time to write your "confessional"?
A) Oh yes! I never admitted publicly that I had an affair with Herb Kohler (of bathroom hardware fame) and in all the articles printed at that time I denied it and so did he. He was quite newsworthy then and remains one of the richest men in the U.S. I was hesitant about admitting this in writing but I was assured that I couldn't be sued if it was true. So far, I haven't been. I wasn't kind to Jeno Paulucci in my description of his behavior, either. He is still alive in Duluth. And the final admission of my affair with Peter Faucetta only confirms what many suspected. So it is confessional in this sense. My son with grandchildren was disturbed by the "racy" nature of the book and has allowed the 11-year-old to read only the censored parts. But these men were part of my life.
Q) How's the feedback, especially from the subjects in your book?
A) Mort, the man who figured prominently in my life for 20 years and who I married after all the drama, liked the way I described him physically. That was important to him and he was not shocked. He knew some of it and suspected the rest. But he loved me for my moxie, for the daring I displayed both in business and emotionally. He'd like to take credit for having been my Svengali.
My friends and former magazine colleagues loved it. The women who were contemporaries in business loved it and bought copies for friends.
Q) What are you up to currently?
A) I am currently retired and concentrate on my family, my grandkids, and enjoying the natural beauty of California. I'm a bit of a recluse. My trip to Ketchum is the first trip I've taken in a year. I was up in the air so much when I worked that air travel has no appeal for me. And I don't like boats. Most of my friends are always trying to get me to travel with them to exotic places and I have no interest.
Q) What's up next?
A) I want someone to make a movie of this book! And I want to live to be a healthy 100.
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Sanford Speaks
When: Friday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.
Where: The Community Library, Ketchum.
Cost: Free.
Jennifer Liebrum: jliebrum@mtexpress.com
Leda Sanford
