Author and journalist Iris Krasnow has written about women’s relationships and personal growth for 30 years. She will speak about “The Power of Passion in a Woman’s Life” at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy “Connections” brunch on March 3. The event will start at 10 a.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
A New York Times best-selling author, Krasnow has written “Surrendering to Marriage,” “Surrendering to Motherhood,” “Surrendering to Yourself,” and “I Am My Mother’s Daughter.” Her most recent book, “The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What It Really Takes to Stay Married,” is one of O, The Oprah Magazine’s “Ten Titles to Pick Up Now.”
“My books mirror the passages and challenges” that women go through, from getting married to starting a career to taking care of an aging mother, Krasnow told the AJP. Throughout it all, “Judaism and family are the steady drumbeats of our lives.”
Krasnow, 58, has been married for 25 years and has four sons, ages 23, 21 and 19-year-old twins. “I had four children under age 3,” she notes. A graduate of Stanford University, she became the fashion writer for the Dallas Times-Herald, and then moved to United Press International in Washington, D.C., to become the national feature writer.
Krasnow’s work has been featured in many national publications, including Parade, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and AARP The Magazine. She has been a guest on numerous television programs such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “Good Morning America” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” She is also a longtime professor and academic director of Washington Journalism Semester at American University in Washington, D.C.
Currently, Krasnow is working on a book about sexuality and intimacy, which, she says, will be published early next year by Penguin.
Speaking from her Maryland home, Krasnow says, coming to Tucson in March “will be like a second homecoming.” Growing up, until around age 20, she and her family vacationed at what used to be the Double U Ranch and is now Canyon Ranch. “I’m so excited to be coming back,” she says.
The Federation’s Young Women’s Cabinet requests that “Connections” attendees bring new or gently used books for Homer Davis Elementary School or a donation for the PJ Library. A Southern Arizona teen will be honored at the event with the Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award.
The brunch is $36 per person, with a $180 minimum pledge to the 2013 Federation Community Campaign; $18 for students. RSVP by Feb. 15 online at www.jewishtucson.org or contact Karen Graham at 577-9393, ext. 118, or kgraham@jfsa.org.
