Who Says You Can’t?_Sarah Blaskovich
Author writes about go-getting women
Susan Casey’s list of “friends” is extensive. Some were born in the 1800s, while others haven’t graduated from high school yet. And many, she never met. But an avid researcher and lover of “detective work,” as she calls it, Casey combed through libraries across the country, hungry to meet women inventors. She now knows so much about them that she calls most—dead or alive—friends. “I feel like I know them,” she says.
Her far-reaching memory harkens back to a “brilliant” woman who came to the United States in the 1920s and built the first solar-heated house. She jumps to the story of the hardworking secretary Bette Graham, who secretly invented Liquid Paper in the 1950s to cover up her typewriting mistakes. Casey’s research was published in Women Invent!, a book about female pioneers of their time.
“These women were pursuing their interests in a very intelligent way—and following through,” Casey says. “They say, I’ll figure out a way to do it. I’m gonna make this happen. It’s inspiring.”
Casey talks about her favorite women inventors, unable to pick just one. She tells the story of Rose Totino, of the famous brand of frozen pizzas, like she’s a long-lost friend: “Rose settled in Minneapolis, and nobody there knew a thing about pizza,” she explains. “Rose would take pizza to the PTA when they were asked to do a potluck. And people thought, Wow, this is great! And it caught on!”
Casey’s book was published in 1997—just before the advent of the Internet and online search engines. She spent nearly 18 months in a Los Angeles library, “zipping” through microfiche and making notes for her book. “It was really fun. For a lot of these women, I had to search in books and call historical societies to find anything about them,” she says. “Now, I Google their name and five biographies pop up.”
Still, the lengthy research process is what Casey found fascinating. “Spending several years talking and researching about optimistic people is inspiring,” she says. “There’s a model of every kind of person in this book: chemists, balloonists, secretaries. When I speak, I teach girls and boys that anyone can use their ideas and create something terrific.”
Casey was inspired by her research on women to write a second book about kid inventors. Now, when she speaks to groups, she explains how people can be inventors, no matter their age.
- Trust your ideas. She tells the story of a third-grader whose dad was a basketball coach. This child inventor realized his teammates didn’t know how to shoot the ball correctly, so he dipped his hands in paint and slapped them on the basketball in the right place. His idea was sold to Sportime, and the boy was able to put himself, his brother and his sister through college with the dividends.
- Use resources. Several nonprofit groups exist to help inventors get their ideas up and running. They can be excellent sources for information and inspiration, Casey says.
- Know before you go. There was once a day when patents and trademark information were confusing and difficult to understand. Casey says, today, it’s fairly simple to understand the process of inventing. Also, Google Patents now has a search engine that provides information on more than 7 million patents catalogued by name or number.
Women inventors, in particular, are a rare breed, Casey says. Until 1977, only 1.5 percent of inventors were female. That number jumped to about 10 percent in the late 1970s during the women’s movement.
Women Invent! is written for a young audience, but Casey says the book is a quick, fun read for anyone interested in inventions. The book details women who made millions off of a household item, or those who were just trying to make their day-to-day lives a bit easier. “Discovering stories about women and kids who invented things is really fun,” she says. “Just like the women in the book stood out in their time, I like to show young girls that they can do anything.”
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Reference :
- http://www.sfwmag.com/inspirations/who-says-you-can%E2%80%99t/all/1/
