Geraldine Ferraro

The passing of Geraldine Ferraro touches us. Many of us who read these Ways of the World articles, eMos and other Geranium Farm content, and especially those of us who write them, owe her and her associates huge debts of gratitude for what they accomplished in their own right and for the paths they blazed for the rest of us. Here are two illustrations of those gifts of Geraldine Ferraro.

Gail Collins, in When Everything Changed, her recent compendium of the evolution of women in modern society, quotes Madeleine Kunin, who ran for governor of Vermont in 1984, the year of Ferraro's Vice Presidential candidacy. Collins sets the stage and Kunin's remarks follow: "Ferraro arrived to campaign with [Kunin]. Thousands of people turned out to greet them. 'Fathers brought their daughters to see us, carrying them on their shoulders, holding them in their arms, leading them by the hand. "I want her to see this, to know this, so she'll remember," a man said as he asked a bystander to snap our picture together: Gerry Ferraro, Daddy, the baby, and me.'"[1]

Ms. Ferraro and Sarah Palin appeared together on Fox News this past election night, November 2, 2010. Watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMj_yxlw4Hk It's an extraordinary moment.

Thank you, Gerry. May you rest in peace.

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[1]Gail Collins. When Everything Changed: the Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2009. Page 324.