Los Gatos Weekly-Times Diane Dreher Jean Hegland Connie Young Yu AAUW welcomes a trio of authors to annual luncheon Event takes place at Saratoga Country Club By Shari Kaplan Three authors will discuss their new books and speak with the public on Jan. 28 at a luncheon sponsored by the Los Gatos-Saratoga branch of the American Association of University Women. The event, which begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Saratoga Country Club, 21990 Prospect Drive, is a fundraiser for the AAUW Educational Foundation. Los Gatos resident Diane Dreher will speak about her latest book, The Tao of Womanhood. Based on the ancient Chinese philosophical writings of the Tao Te Ching, the book details how women can achieve more harmony and balance in their personal lives while also being more effective in their activities, jobs and relationships. Dreher has a personal interest and background in Eastern philosophy, and says growing up in the Far East had a strong influence on her. A professor of English at Santa Clara University, Dreher has written two other books: The Tao of Inner Peace and The Tao of Personal Leadership. In addition to writing and teaching, she is a licensed holistic health practitioner, a spiritual counselor, a certified massage therapist and a student of the martial art aikido. Jean Hegland lives west of the Healdsburg area on 55 acres of second-growth forest with her husband and children. Her latest novel, Into the Forest is a futuristic look at what happens when society breaks down and two teenage sisters struggle to survive in a hostile world. Her newest novel is set to come out later in 1999. Hegland, who has two daughters and a son, has also written The Life Within: Celebration of a Pregnancy, a nonfiction work that has been sold to more than a dozen foreign presses. In addition to homeschooling her children and writing, she also is a part-time instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College. Los Altos Hills resident Connie Young Yu is a historian and author of Chinatown: San Jose, which offers slices of late-19th to mid-20th century Chinese life and depicts Chinese contributions to American culture. Her maternal great-grandfather worked on the Transcontinental Railroad; her paternal grandfather came to San Jose's Chinatown as a child in 1881. A third-generation Californian with a husband and three children, Yu has also written Profiles in Excellence: Chinese Americans on the Peninsula. She has been involved in several historical projects involving Chinese Americans, including the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Barracks and the Ng Shing Gung replica at the San Jose Historical Museum. Tickets for the luncheon are $42 each, $21 of which is tax-deductible. Books signed by the authors will be available for purchase. Space is limited. For reservations, call 867-1928; for more information, call 395-4045. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 20, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.