BEYOND SUPERWOMAN - BY KARIN STRASSER KAUFFMAN AND PEGGY DOWNES, Ph.D.

Preface by Gail Sheehy

I was instantly intrigued. "Beyond Superwoman" caught my attention the day it landed on my desk. Here was a fresh perspective on the tradeoffs for women juggling personal and professional choicesŠone full of frank admissions by women who have reached for the highest rungs of professional achievement.

My professional life has been guided by efforts to help others navigate through the rough and narrow channels of our life course. I have never been able to resist the challenge implicit in the word "passage." From my l976 book, "Passages", delineating the periods of transition in women's lives, through to my latest work, "Passage to the New Normal: Stories From Middletown, America", crystallizing and personalizing our traumatic national passage since 9/ll, my essential focus has not wavered. "Beyond Superwoman" tackles another piece of the puzzle, and brilliantly.

Intimate conversations with superstars-powerhouses such as Donna Dubinsky, founder of Palm Pilot; Kathy Levinson, President of E*Trade; MRC Greenwood, Chancellor of the University of California at Santa Cruz; Ann Livermore, Vice President of Hewlett Packard; Susan Hammer, first woman elected Mayor of San Jose, California; and Kathleen Sullivan, Dean of Stanford Law School-put flesh on what the authors term a "New Breed" of women. Risk-takers all, these women impressed me with their insights and the conscious calibration of their choices.

In this book Peggy and Karin uncover an amazing panoply of lifestyles. They extract painfully honest advice from women who are generally unapproachable when it comes to their private lives. From the lesbian CEO who heads board meetings of the world's largest on-line brokerage firm right up to her delivery date, to the women who have carefully and without guilt considered their decision not to have children, and to those whose husbands have embraced the new role of househusband-these strong leaders lay out their views.

These authors are two smart and gutsy women. They were able to penetrate the corporate and political fortress of Silicon Valley and come out with concrete advice and a positive message. Both are life-long advocates of women's rights. Between them, they have taught university students for over fifty years, written several books, served in elected political office, and triggered mentoring and re-entry programs for women in at least four colleges. Peggy is currently creating seminars on Women and Power at UC Santa Cruz and is the co-author of "The New Older Woman." Karin is immersed, as always, in environmental causes and community building.

How many women today can resist the popular injunction to "have it all" and focus instead on their own heart's desire? How many scan through the options available with a greatly expanded life span? "Beyond Superwoman" looks to the future and offers good practical advice to all women-working or not, on the highest or lowest rung of the corporate ladder, with a family in mind or determined to go it solo. The key is being choosy, letting some things go, focusing with zest-and perhaps even catching up at a later stage with past pleasures denied. They call it sequencing.

A generation of women were influenced by my book "Passages." Just like Margaret Mead, who went into uncharted territory and mapped gender patterns, I have worked to define each segment of women's lives. Now a new generation needs to take a closer look at those critical years when they must make conscious choices with lasting consequences. This is not a clear passage. It cries out for role models and mentors who know the ropes and the rules of the game. What these pathfinders advise is invaluable.

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