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March 10, 2000/3 Adar II 5760, Vol. 52, No.27
Hill says 'Speaking Truth' turned into personal trial
LEISAH NAMM
Staff Writer
Anita Hill, the lawyer whose name became familiar in U.S. households during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991, discussed her book, "Speaking Truth to Power," Thursday, March 2, at the Brandeis University National Women's Committee Book & Author luncheon at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale.
Now a professor at the Heller Graduate School at Brandeis, Hill frequently lectures on civil rights and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Her book is a memoir about her experience during the Senate hearings that affirmed Thomas' appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hill had accused Thomas of having sexually harassed her when she had worked for him some years earlier.
Disputing allegations that she wrote the book solely to convince doubters of her truthfulness during her testimony, Hill said she "wanted the story to be told as a personal experience."
"There are clearly political issues, but that was not the entire experience," she explained at the Brandeis luncheon. "I wanted it to be told from a personal point of view."
Besides politics, this was "also a story about gender. It was about race. It was about class. It was about a sense of belonging and the sense of feeling an outsider," she added.
Hill found writing the book to be a valuable way to understand her family's history.
"I would advise those of you that don't have a clear understanding of your family background and family history. ...I would invite you to sit with someone of the previous generation to talk with them about what their experience was," Hill said. "It was one of the most rewarding and enriching parts of doing the research for this book."
"Is this just a story about my experience? I don't think so. I think it's a story about a lot of people and a lot of experiences. Is it just a story about gender oppression or sexual harassment? I think it's a story about a lot of the inequities and injustices we experience in life. It's a human story."
Other authors who spoke at the luncheon were David Brancaccio, author of "Squandering Aimlessly: My Adventures in the American Marketplace," about the complexities of business, investing and the economy; Stephen J. Cannell, who discussed his fifth thriller, "The Devils Workshop;" adventure-writer Clive Cussler who wrote "Atlantis Found" and several other best-selling books; Diana Douglas Darrid, who wrote "In the Wings" about her grandson, actor Michael Douglas' son; and screenwriter and producer Amy Ephron, who spoke about her newest novel "White Rose."
Some 950 people attended the luncheon.
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