Overview

"Marilyn Laurie was a self-described ""little Jewish girl from the Bronx"" who became one of the world's top public relations counselors and the first woman in the top policy-making councils of a Fortune 10 company. Her career mirrored the social and political upheaval of the 20th century's last three decades. After helping launch Earth Day in 1970, she was hired by AT&T to encourage employee recycling. Marilyn: A Woman In Charge tells the behind-the-scenes story of how she who worked her way from that humble assignment into the corridors of power. When she died in 2010, Marilyn had received practically every award available to public relations practitioners. But few knew the tortuous path she journeyed to the top of her field. In a career bookended by systemic sexism and gender stereotyping, she refused to stay in the lane assigned to her by gender. When others dodged and weaved to avoid conflict, she ran towards problems, even at the risk of becoming associated with them. Her life story is a lesson in public relations leadership at the highest levels. It's a story of chance and cunning, of heady highs and humbling lows, and the gift of grace and resilience. A second-generation immigrant, Marilyn was raised in the Bronx and never lost the flat accents and directness of its streets and alleyways. She attended Barnard College in the second half of the 1950s, where she learned that women need not live their lives solely through husband and children. She graduated intending to apply her full capacities to meaningful goals outside herself. She first found goals worthy of her full capacities in environmentalism. Then, almost by accident, she found such goals at AT&T. When she joined the company, it was literally ""The Telephone Company,"" whose mission for nearly a century had been to put a telephone within an arm's reach of every household. A regulated monopoly, its very existence depended on earning and keeping the public's trust, a goal she believed depended more on what the company did than what it said. She was also there when AT&T lost its footing in the wake of technological, social, and political change, and she worked just as hard to help it regain its balance. Based on the author's first-hand experience, archival files, and interviews with Marilyn's friends, colleagues, and family members, Marilyn: A Woman In Charge is the behind-the-scenes story of a woman who broke through the proverbial glass ceiling within a great American company. It describes how she won and kept a seat at the policy-making table, how she defined the role of public relations, and how she dealt with crises arising both from the company's missteps and from the agendas of special interests."

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9780999024584

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Reviews

. . . A thrilling and transformational journey into the life of one of the most powerful, unsung trusted advisors of our time. I finished the book inspired and with a deeper appreciation for all she achieved on behalf of women in business. This book is relevant today for any woman, at any age, in any profession. -Cheryl Procter-Rogers, APR, Fellow, PCC; senior public relations consultant and executive coach One of the closest insider views ever written of the essential role public relations plays in a large organization. . . . An important read for everyone in the field-men and women-especially those just starting careers in public relations. Martin's recounting of crises Marilyn faced is done in gripping detail. There is much to be learned from his important book. -Bill Nielsen, former corporate vice president of Public Affairs, Johnson & Johnson Martin's description of how Marilyn handled reputational crises, complex situations, sudden reversals, self-inflicted wounds, prickly personalities, conflicting stakeholder interests, and uncooperative leaders, should be required reading for anyone aspiring to hold a similar corporate role. Martin has done a fine job of showing us the qualities that enabled her to be the first breakthrough female corporate communications leader with the authenticity only an insider can deliver. -John Onoda, senior corporate counselor, Gagen MacDonald Those in search of lessons in leadership have hit the jackpot. This book offers a treasure trove of insights-in leadership, diversity, inclusion and representation, and crisis communications. I'm better for the read. -Del Galloway, APR, Fellow PRSA; former AT&T executive; vice president, communications, Wells Fargo Martin offers a deeply researched, engaging account of Marilyn Laurie's rise to upper management in the context of events with global implications-from the first Earth Day to AT&T's divestiture of the Bell operating companies. I gained a better understanding of Laurie, of women in public relations history, and the role of public relations in corporate America. -Karen Miller Russell, associate professor, Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia Martin has written a riveting book that shows us the backbreaking and heartbreaking work it took for Marilyn to achieve the pinnacle of our profession. She was fearless, outspoken, demanding, intense, a critical thinker, totally trustworthy, and not thin skinned when experiencing gender discrimination. -Patrice Tanaka, founder & Chief Joy Officer, Joyful Planet LLC Dick Martin brilliantly captures the energy, spirit, and quest for change that embodied Marilyn's life in public relations. Marilyn was a PR leader at a time when few women carried a senior title. [She was] deeply rooted in purpose and passion, change agentry and business problem-solving. Whether you're in the field of PR or not, Martin writes a must-read book that draws you in from page one, and keeps your attention the whole way through. I kept saying to myself as I read the chapters, 'I wish I had met Marilyn.' -Deirdre Breakenridge, author, and CEO of Pure Performance

"""Marilyn is an amazing page-turner of a biography about a remarkable woman that will enlighten young women-and men-who aspire to senior positions in corporate America. An extraordinary storyteller, Dick Martin has created an important addition to public relations literature."" -Ron Culp, professional director of the graduate PR and advertising; program at DePaul University "" . . . A thrilling and transformational journey into the life of one of the most powerful, unsung trusted advisors of our time. I finished the book inspired and with a deeper appreciation for all she achieved on behalf of women in business. This book is relevant today for any woman, at any age, in any profession."" -Cheryl Procter-Rogers, APR, Fellow, PCC; senior public relations consultant and executive coach ""One of the closest insider views ever written of the essential role public relations plays in a large organization. . . . An important read for everyone in the field-men and women-especially those just starting careers in public relations. Martin's recounting of crises Marilyn faced is done in gripping detail. There is much to be learned from his important book."" -Bill Nielsen, former corporate vice president of Public Affairs, Johnson & Johnson ""Martin's description of how Marilyn handled reputational crises, complex situations, sudden reversals, self-inflicted wounds, prickly personalities, conflicting stakeholder interests, and uncooperative leaders, should be required reading for anyone aspiring to hold a similar corporate role. Martin has done a fine job of showing us the qualities that enabled her to be the first breakthrough female corporate communications leader with the authenticity only an insider can deliver."" -John Onoda, senior corporate counselor, Gagen MacDonald ""Those in search of lessons in leadership have hit the jackpot. This book offers a treasure trove of insights-in leadership, diversity, inclusion and representation, and crisis communications. I'm better for the read."" -Del Galloway, APR, Fellow PRSA; former AT&T executive; vice president, communications, Wells Fargo ""Martin offers a deeply researched, engaging account of Marilyn Laurie's rise to upper management in the context of events with global implications-from the first Earth Day to AT&T's divestiture of the Bell operating companies. I gained a better understanding of Laurie, of women in public relations history, and the role of public relations in corporate America. -Karen Miller Russell, associate professor, Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia ""Martin has written a riveting book that shows us the backbreaking and heartbreaking work it took for Marilyn to achieve the pinnacle of our profession. She was fearless, outspoken, demanding, intense, a critical thinker, totally trustworthy, and not thin skinned when experiencing gender discrimination."" -Patrice Tanaka, founder & Chief Joy Officer, Joyful Planet LLC ""Dick Martin brilliantly captures the energy, spirit, and quest for change that embodied Marilyn's life in public relations. Marilyn was a PR leader at a time when few women carried a senior title. [She was] deeply rooted in purpose and passion, change agentry and business problem-solving. Whether you're in the field of PR or not, Martin writes a must-read book that draws you in from page one, and keeps your attention the whole way through. I kept saying to myself as I read the chapters, 'I wish I had met Marilyn.'"" -Deirdre Breakenridge, author, and CEO of Pure Performance"

Author Information

"Dick Martin writes about public relations, marketing, and ethics. He has authored four books for the American Management Association and articles for such publications as the Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive, and the Journal of Business Strategy. Capping a 33-year career with AT&T, from 1997 to 2003, he was Chairman of the AT&T Foundation and executive vice president responsible for the company's public relations, employee communications and brand management worldwide. The Holmes Report called his first book, Tough Calls, one of the 5 best PR books published in the first decade of the 21st century and ""by far the best book about the realities of working in corporate communications for a large American corporation."" He is a frequent speaker to business groups and has conducted ethics workshops for the Institute of Public Relations, the Arthur Page Society, Rutgers University, and other organizations. Most recently, he co-authored Public Relations Ethics: How To Practice PR Without Losing Your Soul, with Donald K. Wright, chair of the public relations department of Boston University's College of Communications. Martin is a Trustee of the Museum of Public Relations and on the Board of Advisors of Corporate Communications International at Baruch University. He was one of the first recipients of the Arthur W. Page Center's Award for Integrity in Public Communication."

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