Dinners with Ruth : a memoir on the power of friendships
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-288) and index.

An extraordinary account of two women who paved the way for future generations by tearing down professional and legal barriers. It is also an intimate memoir of the power of friendships as women began to pry open career doors and transform the workplace. At the storys heart is one, special relationship: Ruth and Nina saw each other not only through personal joys, but also illness, loss, and widowhood. During the devastating illness and eventual death of Ninas first husband, Ruth drew her out of grief; twelve years later, Nina would reciprocate when Ruths beloved husband died. They shared not only a love of opera, but also of shopping, as they instinctively understood that clothes were armor for women who wanted to be taken seriously in a workplace dominated by men. During Ruths last year, they shared so many small dinners that Saturdays were "reserved for Ruth" in Ninas house. Dinners with Ruth also weaves together compelling, personal portraits of other fascinating women and men from Ninas life, including her cherished NPR colleagues Cokie Roberts and Linda Wertheimer; her beloved husbands; her friendships with multiple Supreme Court Justices, including Lewis Powell, William Brennan, and Antonin Scalia, and Ninas own family--her father, the legendary violinist Roman Totenberg, and her "best friends," her sisters. Inspiring and revelatory, Dinners with Ruth is a moving story of the joy and true meaning of friendship. -- Adapted from publisher's description.