Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Happy New Moon Day

Here's a lovely note from New Moon's founder, Nancy Gruver.

This is the day in 1992 when the creative spark that became New Moon lit up my imagination. My husband, Joe & I were driving back to Duluth from Copper Harbor in our trusty old Datsun, talking about what we would like to be doing five years from then. The idea for a “Junior Ms. – a feminist magazine run by girls” popped out of my mouth. Within 5 minutes I knew: “That’s it! That’s what I want to do!”

Of course, there were a few details to work out – mainly that I didn’t know anything about publishing – as my daughters, Mavis & Nia logically pointed out when I excitedly told them about the idea a few days later. But I believe that what mattered is not my empirical knowledge at that point, but that I recognized my passion when it appeared and trusted it.

The spirit of that passion grew and blossomed as Joe, Nia & Mavis, and then many other girls and adults, gave their energy and expertise to what became New Moon. 15 years later, we’ve touched hundreds of thousands of girls and adults with the power of girls’ voices. Along the way, we’ve successfully challenged assumptions about what girls are capable of and interested in and helped to change society’s expectations of girls. Still, there’s so much more to be done.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your part in this magical process that has reached so many and is going to reach so many more as we grow.

Nancy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never new how New Moon was created and this really touched my heart. I love how you could follow your dream and inspire girls globally. I am a little older than the magazine (I was born in May of 1992) and I feel connected to the magazine and its creators. Thank you for starting such a wonderful magazine.

Anonymous said...

wow! happy b'day new moon! many more! you rock! you let girls be heard everywhere!
I started getting new moon earlier this year and it's encoraged me to use my voice in productive ways-- thanks new moon! you're the coolest. keep up the FANTABULOUS work everyone!!! (including every girl who leaves her comments on this blog!!!!)