COMMUNITY NEWS
Ten More Doors: Politics and The Path to Change is former Senator Dede Feldman’s latest attempt to make sense of New Mexico’s unique—and at times crazy– political environment. Unlike her previous award-winning books (Inside the New Mexico Senate: Boots, Suits and Citizens and Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico) it chronicles her personal journey—as a journalist, a candidate, teacher, and activist. The chapters, which often stand alone as essays, include lessons in perseverance, tolerance, humility and humor.
Mesa Public Library will host a zoom talk with Feldman on Thursday Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. To register, go to https://laconm.libcal.com/event/8544068 or call Jessica Jenkins at (505) 662-8257.
Los Alamos’s own Stephanie Garcia Richard, now the NM Commissioner of Public Lands, wrote a foreword for the book, which she says is a reminder of the days when there were few women in elected office who could serve as models. “Dede is that woman who came before; the trailblazer, the way finder; one of the few that made it more possible and probable for candidates like me and countless others to succeed,” she says.
The book takes readers to a classroom in Uganda, door-to-door on the campaign trail, along ditch banks in the North Valley, to the floor of the New Mexico Senate and the Governor’s office. Along the way readers will hear speeches, attend ward meetings, meet ordinary people with big problems, commiserate with progressive candidates who lost early races and meet corrupt politicians who should have known better.
What Others are Saying:
“…Quirky stories…told with humor and humility…” Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, long-time North Valley resident
“…will lift your appreciation not just of the game, but of the difference a top player like Dede Feldman can make.” …Bill deBuys, NM author and conservationist
About Dede Feldman:
Feldman represented the North Valley of Albuquerque from 1997-2012 in the state senate where she served as chairman of both the powerful Public Affairs Committee and the interim Health and Human Services Committee. She is best known for health care legislation as well as ethics and campaign finance reform. She is a former journalist, adjunct professor of Political Science and currently serves as the communications director for Common Cause New Mexico. She is a frequent panelist on the line for PBS’s New Mexico In Focus. Throughout, she has been an activist.
“During these challenging times, it’s hard to find the inspiration and hope we need to keep knocking on doors, to keep working for change in whatever way we can, with the resources we have, starting from our own kitchen table,” she said. “I’ve struggled to do it, and this is my story. I’m hoping it will help others on the same quest.”
Ten More Doors is a 220-page paperback and is available at the public library. It is also available at Collected Works and Garcia St. Books in Santa Fe for $14.99. Signed copies ship directly from the author through www.dedefeldman.com/tenmore. The eBook ($7.99) is available from Amazon.
For more information call Dede Feldman at (505) 220-5958.