Peter Birkenhead has written for Daily Beast, Salon, the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and other publications. His memoir, Gonville, was published in 2010 by Simon and Schuster. He tweets at @peterbirkenhead.

 

Shattering Glass Ceilings

She escaped from an abusive husband and raised four kids on her own, even as she spent long hours building her career as one of the first female lyricists on Broadway.