Former Chicago bookstore owner remembers Gloria Steinem's lasting impact
Steinem died Wednesday in New York.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- More than three decades after Gloria Steinem drew hundreds of people to an Andersonville bookstore, former Women & Children First owner Linda Bubon is remembering the activist, author and journalist whose appearances left a lasting mark on the store and its community.
Bubon said she still recalls the excitement of learning that Steinem had selected the bookstore for an appearance in the early 1990s.
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"I remembered standing with the phone in my hand and just jumping up and down. I was so excited," Bubon said.
At the time, Bubon did not realize how large the turnout would be.
"I had no idea even then how big the audience would be for her in 1991. But 800 people came," Bubon said. "She went to the back. She stood up on a chair and she spoke brilliantly and humorously and everybody was just captivated."
Steinem died Wednesday in New York.
Women & Children First, one of the nation's largest feminist bookstores, hosted Steinem four times over more than two decades. Although Bubon and her partner no longer own the store, she returned this week to reflect on Steinem's visits and legacy.
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"She had such a sense of the audience and how to address people," Bubon said.
Steinem rose to prominence as a journalist and activist and co-founded Ms. Magazine, the first national publication owned and run by women that focused on feminist issues.
Micaela di Leonardo, professor emerita of gender studies at Northwestern University, said Steinem's influence was immediately apparent when Ms. Magazine launched.
"I was a senior when the first Ms. Magazine came out in 1972. And that's when Gloria Steinem burst onto the scene for me," di Leonardo said.
Often identified as a leading figure in the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Steinem remained active in politics and advocacy throughout her life. During her 1992 Chicago visit, she campaigned for Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun. In 2013, she appeared on "Windy City Live" and spoke about Hillary Clinton's potential presidential candidacy.
Di Leonardo said Steinem's enduring influence stemmed in part from her ability to broaden her focus beyond the issues that initially defined the women's movement.
"Coming from where she was, a white middle-class woman, to understand issues of class and race and sexuality in the United States," Di Leonardo said.
Steinem continued writing until recently. Her final memoir, "An Unexpected Life," is scheduled for release in less than three weeks.
