ASHA Convention: Misleading ASHA Convention Keynote Speaker Bio Leaves Out Important Details

"ASHA 2010: Leadership Into New Frontiers," the convention booklet mailing that all ASHA members received in late June, has an interesting narrative about this year's keynote speaker, Nancy G. Brinker. It's interesting for what it leaves out.
Here's the narrative found on page 8 of the booklet (now removed from ASHA's site):

We are happy to announce that Nancy Goodman Brinker will join us as the evening's keynoter. She is known as one of the nation's foremost "social entrepreneurs" and a global activist who has inspired millions around the world. Those familiar with the history of Susan G. Komen for the Cure know that the organization was founded by Ambassador Brinker over 26 years ago on a promise she made to her beloved sister, Susan, who died at age 36 from breast cancer.

Not only did Nancy Brinker found the organization that has become synonymous with breast cancer globally, she brought the disease out of the shadows of secrecy and shame in large part by launching Komen for the Cure's well-known and emulated Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series®, the world's largest and most successful education and fundraising event for a charity. She believes in the power of one—the ability of every individual to make a difference in their communities, companies, countries and the world. Drawing on her remarkable life experience as a breast cancer survivor, catalyst of an international health movement and US ambassador, Nancy Brinker shares how her unique lessons for personal and professional fulfillment can help every individual lead a life of both success and significance. (bold lettering and italics added)

It's a narrative that is tailor-made for a convention of mostly female middle-class professionals raised on Oprah: one woman changing the world through "the power of one," founding an international charitable organization, becoming a "global activist" and "social entrepreneur," and achieving it all by - by what? Force of will? Positive thinking? Self-reliance? Belief in one's unlimited potential? Woman power? You can choose any New Age feel-good phrase you like to complete that sentence; just don't waste too much time doing so because there are serious problems with this narrative. It leaves out some very important details about the life of Nancy Brinker. After reading what was left out, you may see a different narrative in Brinker's story, one that doesn't match the one promoted by ASHA.
For one thing, ASHA's narrative makes no mention of the fact that Nancy G. Brinker (born Nancy Goodman) married a very wealthy and powerful man: Norman E. Brinker (1931-2009).

Although Nancy Brinker's husband played a vital role in her life story, ASHA's narrative makes no mention of him. Zip. Nada. Perhaps because it wouldn't fit the Oprah-style "any woman can do anything on her own if she just sets her mind to it" fantasy nonsense that is so popular today.
In 1981, Nancy married Norman E. Brinker, the founder of Brinker International, one of the largest restaurant companies in the world. It currently employs 100,000 people and has annual sales of over 4 billion dollars. Norman was a pioneer and an innovator in the restaurant business. Among other things, Norman Brinker founded the Steak and Ale chain. He helped create or oversaw the growth of Bennigan's, Burger King, and Haagen Dazs. The company he founded is the parent company of Chilis, On the Border, Romano's Macaroni grill, and many others. He revolutionized the restaurant business by introducing and popularizing salad bars. If all that wasn't enough, he was also a world-class athlete. In 1952, he was a member of the US Olympics Equestrian team. He became chair of the United States Polo Association and was inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame. By all accounts, he was an extraordinary man; one can easily imagine Norman being the main character in an Ayn Rand novel (you can read his NY Times obituary here). Norman appears to have been a high-testosterone alpha male - the type of hard-driven, ambitious, and very talented man who works his butt off to become a big, big success - and the type of man who easily attracts women who are less successful and talented than he. 
The Wikipedia article on Nancy states:

Norman Brinker provided funds and methodology for building the Komen foundation. 

ASHA's narrative mentions that Nancy Brinker lost her sister to cancer and that this was the impetus to Nancy forming her cancer charity. It makes absolutely no mention of another cancer victim who is also a very important part of the Brinker story. Norman's first wife, World Champion tennis player Maureen Connolly, also died of cancer (at age 34). Maureen (1934-1969) won the US Championships at age 16 (the youngest player to do so at the time). She was the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year. She also won Wimbledon in 1952. Her tragic and untimely death at age 34 was considered a major loss to the sports world.


According to PJSTAR.COM:

In November 1980, Nancy met restaurant magnate Norman Brinker in Dallas. He understood her loss—he had been married to tennis star Maureen Connolly, who died from ovarian cancer in 1969...
Marriage to Norman Brinker gave Nancy the financial freedom to leave her career and do something for Suzy (i.e., Susan G. Komen). (bold and italics added)

I guess there's no limit to what one woman can do - if she's lucky enough to marry a very wealthy man! So, is this really a story about "the power of one"? It seems to me to be a story about the power of two.
According to the Wikipedia article:

With the memory of his first wife's battle with the disease in the 1960s, the Brinkers used his wealth to establish a fund dedicated to advancing treatment for cancer in the name of Mrs. Brinker's sister who had died of breast cancer in 1980 at the age of 39. (bold and italics added)

The narrative states that Nancy was an ambassador. Nancy was the US ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003. ASHA's narrative doesn't mention that the Brinkers made huge donations to the Bush presidential campaign (here's a link to the page on the Brinker's donations to Bush).

The couple were active Bush Pioneers, wealthy donors who provided $100,000 or more of financial support for George W. Bush's presidential ambitions Link

Bush was sworn in as president on January 20, 2001. Seven months later, in an astonishing coincidence, Nancy was appointed ambassador to Hungary.
I suspected that Nancy Brinker's story - as related by ASHA - was incomplete: it seemed to be too much of a perfect fit for the women's morning talk show blabfests. Don't get me wrong: Nancy Brinker has done a great deal of good in the world. But so did her husband (the company he formed created 100,000 jobs - nothing to sniff at in a recession). Can you help but wonder if Nancy would have become a "global activist" if it wasn't for Norman? Why leave him out of the narrative? Is it because his existence is an inconvenient truth, one that is a real buzz-kill to the dopey "gee, look at what one woman all by herself can do if she sets her mind to it, and so can I if just believe in myself" fairy tale?

So, what's the real lesson here? I think I know: anyone, even you can become a "global activist."All you have to do is:
1) Believe in the "power of one."
2) Think positively.
Oh, and one more thing:

Don't forget to marry a super wealthy alpha-male.