Books by Inga Wiehl

Reclaiming Our Brains without Losing Our Minds relates the story of a group of women in Yakima, Washington, who form a reading discussion group. Over the course of twenty-nine years, the women hone their minds, exchange ideas, and discover a sense of community that extends beyond the page.

When Professional Women Retire: Food for Thought and Palate celebrates women''s ways of knowing how to retire into "the good life." Our approach is predicated on the belief that we may transform the outward loss of professional careers and identity to inward gain. Urging a thoughtful assessment of ourselves as retired professional women, we advocate finding a passion leading to tasks that will engage our minds and demand our commitment. We propose ways of living examined lives yet realize that "minding our bellies" is vital to leading a good life. Our favorite recipes, therefore, bring attention to food as a means of individual well-being and social bonding. The Tool Book offers practical, hands-on information with specific text references and recommended readings, directories of agencies considered especially helpful in posing, answering, or directing inquiries into part-time jobs, volunteer opportunities, continuing education, physical exercise options, and travel destinations. It furthermore shows how the book may be used as a starter text for group explorations, such as seminars, workshops, chautauquas, and focus groups, inviting women to come together to discuss issues, means of mutual support, and community outreach.

This book is a story of homecoming, geographically and metaphorically, and the powers of heart and will that make homecoming possible. Written from the double perspective of those who left and those who stayed behind, it tells of a region and its people at a challenging time in history.