Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Teaser Tuesday: The Only Woman in the Room by Norma Paulus



In the summer of 1981, in one of the more bizarre episodes of Oregon history, scarlet-clad disciples of the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh came to Oregon with a dream of making the desert bloom into a garden paradise. . . . And it produced a voter-fraud crisis that landed squarely in the lap of Secretary of State Norma Paulus.

The Only Woman in the Room: The Norma Paulus Story by Norma Paulus with Gail Wells and Pat McCord Amacher, published by OSU Press.

I'm a big fan of Norma Paulus, an Oregon politician who, when she became Oregon’s Secretary of State in 1976, was the first woman elected to a statewide office in Oregon. Her story in an inspiration.

It also has its crazy parts, like the chapter on the Bhagwan and his salad bar poisoning loyalists.



Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.