Texas Tornado: The Autobiograp Hardcover - 2003

From the publisher

At the age of eighty-three, Louise Ballerstedt Raggio is an icon in the struggle for women's equality. She began her life in a small Texas town without electricity or running water and has risen to become a legend in the legal profession and celebrated humanitarian. Texas Tornado recounts the personal and professional journey of this remarkable woman whose life is an inspiration for women everywhere. From her poverty-stricken childhood to her stellar academic career as valedictorian and Rockefeller scholar, Raggio recalls her early life with humor and grace. In her own indomitable voice, she tells of her years as the dedicated wife who stood by her husband through forty-seven years of marriage; her struggle to raise her three children while attending law school; her battles with depression, financial insecurity, and life-threatening health problems; and her personal suffering during the Communist witch-hunts of the McCarthy years. Through tragedy, she managed to triumph, surmounting educational barriers, family expectations, religious restrictions, and professional blockades. Texas Tornado also chronicles the incredible legal career of this firebrand crusader, from her beginnings as a law student in a male-dominated school to her demoralizing search for a job in 1950s Texas, to her success in starting her own law practice and her crusade to win property rights for women. Raggio would eventually change the law forever, removing 44 legal restrictions to give married women equality in Texas. Her victories in Texas helped pave the way for women in every state to gain equal access to credit and start their own businesses. She became a heroine for businesswomen everywhere and eventuallyearn a place as one of the nation's 30 most outstanding family lawyers. Written with the poignancy and inspiration of Sandra Day O' Connor's Lazy B., this is a memoir that will hearten a whole new generation of women to overcome barriers and become full participating citizens in their world.