by Swanee Hunt
about Swanee Hunt
by Swanee Hunt
Half-Life of a Zealot
Swanee Hunt’s memoir, Half-Life
of a Zealot, available now.
Swanee Hunt’s life has lived up to her Texas-size childhood. Daughter
of the legendary oil magnate H. L. Hunt, she grew up in a household dominated
by an arch-conservative patriarch who fathered a brood of colorful offspring.
Her family was nothing if not zealous, and her own zeal—albeit for
more compassionate causes—propelled her into a mission that reaches
around the world.
Half-Life of a Zealot tells how the girl who spoke against “Reds” alongside
her father became a fierce advocate for progressive change in America and
abroad, an innovative philanthropist, and Bill Clinton’s ambassador
to Austria. In captivating prose, Hunt describes the warmth and wear of
Southern Baptist culture, which instilled in her a calling to help the
least fortunate and most vulnerable. The reader is drawn into her full-throttle
professional life as it competes with critical family needs.
Hunt gives a remarkably frank account of her triumphs and shortcomings;
her sorrows, including a miscarriage and the failure of a marriage; the
joys and struggles of her second marriage; and her angst over the desperate
illness of one of her three children. She is candid about the opportunities
her fortune has created, as well as the challenge of life as an heiress.
Much of Swanee Hunt’s professional work is devoted to expanding women’s
roles in making and shaping public policy through her position at Harvard
University and through the family foundation she has established.
Swanee Hunt’s autobiography brims over with strong women: her mother,
whose religious faith and optimism were an inspiration; her daughter, who
fights the social stigma of mental disorders; the women of war-torn Bosnia,
who transformed their grief into action; and friends like Hillary Clinton,
who used her position as First Lady to strengthen the voices of others.
Hunt is one more strong woman. Half-Life of a Zealot is her story—so
far.
This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace
This Was Not Our War shares first-person accounts of twenty-six Bosnian women who are reconstructing their society following years of devastating warfare. They are from all parts of Bosnia and represent the full range of ethnic traditions and mixed heritages. Their ages spread across sixty years, and their wealth ranges from expensive jewels to a few chickens. For all their differences, they have this much in common: all survived the war with enough emotional strength to work toward rebuilding their country. Reflecting on the causes of the war, they vehemently reject the idea that age-old ethnic hatred made the war inevitable. The women share their reactions to the Dayton Accords, the end of hostilities, and international relief efforts. While they are candid about the difficulties they face, they are committed to rebuilding Bosnia based on ideals of truth, justice, and a common humanity encompassing those of all faiths and ethnicities. Their courage and fortitude are inspirational. Their wisdom—along with the insights Hunt has garnered through her work with women leaders in conflicts around the world—is instructive for anyone who cares about stopping deadly conflict.
Reports
Transition
within Tradition: Restoring Women's Participation in Afghanistan
with Rina Amiri
Conference Report, 2002
Published Articles/Columns/Chapters
"Eighteen
Million Cracks in the Presidential Glass Ceiling"
Huffington Post
August 4, 2008
The
Meaning of Karadzic
Huffington Post July
23,2008
What
I Learned
Newsweek October
22, 2007
Let Women
Rule
Foreign Affairs
May/June, 2007
Ma
Ellen is delivering Liberia
International Herald Tribune
March 14, 2007
Work
at your own Risk: Freelancers Pay the Price
Scripps Howard News Service
January 4, 2006
Srebrenica:
An Anniversary to Remember
Scripps Howard News Service
July 6, 2005
Women
in Sudan: The Key to Lasting Peace
with Donald Steinberg, Scripps
Howard News Service
June 22, 2005
Women's
Rights: Iran's Bitter Lessons for Iraq
with Isobel Coleman, International
Herald Tribune
February 7, 2005
Moving
Beyond Silence: Women Waging Peace
Chapter 18, contributed to Listening to the Silences: Women and War
2005
Swanee Hunt has authored numerous more articles for American and international newspapers and professional journals including: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Herald, and Rocky Mountain News.
about Swanee Hunt
"Women
Worth Watching in 2008: Swanee Hunt"
Swanee Hunt is a woman worth watching in 2008
Profiles in Diversity Journal
September/October 2007
Oil
Heiress Enters Women's Hall of Fame
Swanee Hunt inducted into Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca, New York
by Ben Dobbin, Associated Press
October 6, 2007
Southern
belle, steel magnolia
The Jerusalem Post
December 21, 2005
Prominent
Women's Rights Advocate Swanee Hunt Visits Korea; "Marry a Man who
Accepts Your Work"
by Moon Kyeong-ran, JoongAng
Ilbo
November 30, 2005
"Combating
the 'Craziness of War' "
by Mehru Jaffer, Women's Feature Service
December 11, 2005
Ladies
First: Ten years after the genocide, will women succeed in rebuilding
Rwanda?
Wide Angle
Aired July 22, 2004, on PBS
"A
Donor's Alternative Energy"
by Domenica Marchetti, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
March 08, 2001