Half-Life of a Zealot tells how the girl who spoke against "Reds" alongside her father became a fierce advocate for progressive change in America and abroad, an innovative philanthropist, and Bill Clinton's ambassador to Austria. In captivating prose, Hunt describes the warmth and wear of Southern Baptist culture, which instilled in her a calling to help the least fortunate and most vulnerable. The reader is drawn into her full-throttle professional life as it competes with critical family needs. Hunt gives a remarkably frank account of her triumphs and shortcomings; her sorrows, including a miscarriage and the failure of a marriage; the joys and struggles of her second marriage; and her angst over the desperate illness of one of her three children. She is candid about the opportunities her fortune has created, as well as the challenge of life as an heiress.

Swanee Hunt's autobiography brims over with strong women: her mother, whose religious faith and optimism were an inspiration; her daughter, who fights the social stigma of mental disorders; the women of war-torn Bosnia, who transformed their grief into action; and friends like Hillary Clinton, who used her position as First Lady to strengthen the voices of others.

This will make a fantastic gift!