In A Glorious Freedom: Older Women Leading Extraordinary Lives (Chronicle Books, $19.95), Lisa Congdon explores the accomplishments of some of the world’s most remarkable women—from Julia Child to Cheryl Strayed—through profiles, interviews and essays.
Congdon loved discovering them all, she says, but “I most loved learning about NASA scientist Katherine Johnson. I was completely entranced by her life and work. In 1958, at the age of 40, she became the only nonwhite, non-male member of NASA’s Space Task Group, focused on manned space missions. Until she was nearly 70 years old, she was an essential part of NASA.” (And now, of course, a subject in box office smash, Hidden Figures.)
Talk and book signing, 10/14, 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill, 1521 10th Ave.; 206.624.6600; elliottbaybook.com
