Board member blog post: A shared love of storytelling

By Judy Miller, JAWS Board Member

In 1985, before many of you were born, JAWS began its journey that continues today.

I was one of the lucky 16 women who gathered in Estes Park, Colorado, that weekend. Most of us didn’t know each other, but we all shared the love of storytelling.

Rather than telling other people’s stories, we told our own. Some extraordinary, some relatively normal. We laughed. We cried. We hugged with affection and in support.

I won’t go through our HERstory… that’s on the website.

But I can tell you what JAWS has meant and does mean to me, and why I’m so proud to be on the Board.

I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through my divorce without the support of the women of JAWS.

I don’t know if I would’ve gone from behind the TV camera to in front of it without the support and encouragement from the women of JAWS.

And I’ve made lifelong friends from women I would have never met, thanks to the women of JAWS.

On the other side of the coin, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to counsel and lend my ear to other women of JAWS.

Now in my second stint as a Board member, I hope to bridge the “then to today to tomorrow” as JAWS continues to struggle with growth, direction and place in the world of journalism.

While I may be retired from broadcast journalism, I’m not retired from my love of storytelling.

And I haven’t lost my appetite from the ongoing evolution of journalism.

As for JAWS, it is and always has been the friendships, support and encouragement that have holds on me.

I’m grateful to be part of the ride.