By Ali Pavlicek
Western Herald
She writes. She speaks. She inspires.
Judith Pearson has blossomed in her career as the author of two books and as a motivational speaker for organizations nationwide.
Pearson has returned to her home state of Michigan to speak and to sign her books at the Barnes & Noble in Portage on Jan. 10 at 2 p.m., where fans and others interested can meet her in person.
Pearson has traveled through her home state of Michigan on a previous book tour, when her last book, “The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America’s Greatest Female Spy,” was published. This biography of Virginia Hall, a Special Operations Executive for Great Britain, follows her story of courage as she worked to outsmart the Nazis and persevere despite her handicap of only having half of her left leg.
“The best way to describe Virginia Hall is … adventurous, ambitious, intelligent, stubborn, and outspoken,” Pearson said. “There was no reason for her to take the risks that she did because she wasn’t Jewish and she didn’t have anyone that she knew in the war. She felt that it was a wrong that needed to be righted.”
In 2001 Pearson also published another book, “Belly of the Beast,” a novel focusing on another woman’s expedition of courage as a prisoner of war during WWII.
“My books are about ordinary individuals who were extremely courageous,” Pearson said.
More recently, Pearson has been involved with various organizations, making appearances as a speaker on topics pertaining to courage, especially for women.
“I started speaking in earnest about 18 months ago,” Pearson said. “I like to speak, I’m interested in courage, and it occurred to me that women have a different kind of courage than men.”
Pearson’s presentations are titled “A Different Kind of Courage” and are offered to organizations and companies nationwide. During her presentations, she looks to the past, gives examples, and always relates back to the organization that she is speaking to.
The bookstore is located at 6134 South Westnedge Ave. Saturday’s visit will be more formal if a larger audience is present; however, more specific questions may be asked of her, depending on the number of people present, Pearson said.
In the future, Pearson looks forward to a movie based on her second book, which will be produced by Out of the Blue Entertainment.
Although she expressed her understanding that the film project will take some time to be completed, Pearson explained that she has received support from other authors.
“James Bradley [author of “Flags of our Fathers”] has been wonderfully helpful,” said Pearson.
So far, two versions of the script have been turned down; however, Pearson hopes that the screenwriter of the third script will be successful.
After her achievements as a public speaker for encouraging women in the workforce, Pearson has also decided to write a third book on this theme of courage. She said that she might even title the book after the name of the presentation series.
“I think that it’s the responsibility of everybody to try and leave some kind of a mark,” Pearson said. “I think that people should use whatever tools they have to help humanity [and] I’ve been given a gift: the ability to write and speak so that I can share inspirational stories to inspire people to go on and do great things.”
For more information about Pearson’s books and speeches, visit judithlpearson.com.
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