By Accident: A Memoir of Letting Go, with Joanne Greene

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Joanne Greene grew up in Boston during the 1960s and ’70s, a turning point for women in the United States. Doors were opening wider, and Joanne walked through as many as she could. As a young woman, she dove headfirst into San Francisco radio and television, and went on to host and produce award-winning feminist and other timely features and talk shows for decades. Throughout, she worked at having a great marriage and being an exemplary parent. But underlying her high-achieving life was a sometimes-destructive need for control.

Vulnerability and dependency were okay…for other people. Joanne’s value was tied to how in charge, how together, and how productive she was. Then she suffered a traumatic accident—and it set her on a journey of discovery that taught her true power came in the still moments, the moments when she not only loosened her grip but even allowed herself to crack. In fragility, Joanne found, there was beauty—and possibility, too.

By Accident is a story about discovering that control is a seductive illusion and how letting go of the need for it can reveal great strength and lead us to even firmer ground.

Joanne Greene grew up in Boston and attended Northwestern University and Emerson College before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was a recognized voice for decades on San Francisco radio. She is the co-host, with Gabi Moskowitz, of the podcast All the F Words and the host of In This Story, a podcast featuring her flash nonfiction. For eleven years she was the director of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood at the Osher Marin JCC.

Program made possible, in part, by Marc and Marci Dollinger.