Home About Fawn Fawn's Blog Books Speaking Press Clips Contact Fawn       Press Clips     The St. Petersburg Times A Word From the Wise By Sheryl Kaye She has shaken hands with the president of Switzerland, dined with the White House's premier news correspondent, sat face to face with the U.S. Army's highest-ranking female general and rubbed elbows with dozens of other prominent women around the globe. People gather to hear her speak. They're buying her book. But Fawn Germer is still Fawn Germer. "It's just me," says Germer, 41. "Sharing, mentoring, not being better than the next person, but helping each other to be the best we can be." Germer learned the real meaning of that philosophy while spending the past two years writing a book called Hard Won Wisdom (Perigree Books, October 2001), a motivational guide that advises women on how to succeed in business and in life. During that time Germer interviewed more than 50 renowned female figures, each one giving her take on the secrets of achievement. Chapters are punctuated by words of wisdom from Cokie Roberts, Jane Goodall, Joycelyn Elders, Rita Moreno and more. Finding motivation was not difficult, Germer says. Having spent many years as a newspaper reporter and editor in Michigan, Colorado, and Florida, she had experienced office politics firsthand. "I didn't get a lot of validation for my daily struggle," said Germer, who now lives in Tampa. "Then I figured there's got to be a book to tell you how to deal with all this emotional turmoil." When she went to find one, she couldn't. "That's when my friends said to me, "That's the book you have to write.' " Connecting with her subjects, however, was most challenging. "I had to call some people 20 times, even 50 times," she said. "I just kept going up and down the list checking them off until I got an answer." When more famous people started signing on for interviews, Germer says it became easier. "People who had said no earlier, I hit again," she said. "When I first called Wilma Mankiller, the Cherokee chief, she said no, but when I called her back and started naming some of the other women who agreed to be interviewed, she said "Yeah, I'd like to be a part of that.' " Germer saw her first copy of the finished book Sept. 10, one day before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Traditionally book tours have authors appearing in different cities across the country every day to publicize their new work. But with security changes and airports temporarily closed, simple cross-country jaunts were not feasible. So Germer drove herself all over the Eastern half of the United States. "I had to fight to get it out," she said. "These women had become my mentors. They had given so much of their time and what they said was so important, and I wanted other women to know it." While the book is written primarily for women, it appears men are enjoying it too, Germer said. More men than she ever anticipated showed up at her book signings, and many have bought the book. During the research and writing phase, Germer subsidized her living with freelance writing work from the Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, and Working Woman magazine. Now, with the completion of the book and the tours, Germer is working as a personal coach, a public speaker, and a senior editor at the Weekly Planet, where she writes her own column. "I want to learn to be a good columnist, and I want to learn to enjoy what I have," she said. "I have my family and work that I am challenged by and that I love. I have a lot to be grateful for."     Click here to read more     Click here to read more     Click here to read more           Copyright 2007 Fawn Germer. All rights reseved.