Mother's Day 2013: Gloria Steinem, Erica Jong & Writers Thank Their Moms

 by Gloria Steinem, Erica Jong, Fay Weldon, Dalma Heyn, Joyce Maynard

Gloria Steinem, Erica Jong, and other writers pay tribute to their mothers, who were all memorable in their own ways—women who hated Mother's Day, took Hollywood by storm, or comforted their daughters when they didn't win the Booker Prize.

Erica Jong and her daughter Molly in 1982. (Open Road Integrated Media)

In the dedication to an earlier book, I wrote that my mother had "performed the miracle of loving others even when she could not love herself." At the time, I thought this was the biggest and most mysterious gift she had given my sister and me. But in recent years of listening to stories of other people’s childhoods and reading books on childrearing, I’ve realized she did something even more difficult—and more rare. She managed to break the pattern of her own upbringing and pass on something quite different to us.

In spite of a childhood marked by more discipline than love—and in spite of the difficulty she and all parents find in giving their children something they themselves did not experience—my mother did her best to make us feel unique and worthwhile. Over and over again, in every way she knew how, she told us that we didn’t need to earn her love. We were loved and valued (and therefore were lovable and valuable) exactly as we were.

—Gloria Steinem
My mother used to say, "You're a wonderful poet, but when I read your novels, I feel I'm reading my obituary." People think I'm outspoken, but she was even more so—and now I know that was a gift. She did not suffer fools gladly. Not even her children. Sometimes her bluntness felt painful, but her lack of hypocrisy was inspiring. I have it now and it has made me an honest writer.
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