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"Sometimes," my mother went on, "I think of white dresses as a way of starting over. They're sort of a way of wiping the whole slate clean. Just like what happens in the wintertime when the snow comes. It wipes away everything in preparation for a new year, a new spring." --Mary Pflum Peterson (author of White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters) Today I'm talking with Beaver Dam, WI native Mary Pflum! Mary began her journalism career in New York at CNN where she had the opportunity to report from Istanbul, Berlin, and Atlanta. She was the CNN Bureau Chief in Turkey, and then she moved on to ABC News/Good Morning America. She is currently a reporter and producer for NBC News. During her carried and exciting career, she's won 5 Emmies, 2 Edward R Murrows, a Peabody, a DuPont, and a WGA Award. She's covered presidential elections, the Oscars, Hurricane Katrina, the London bombings, royal weddings, the death of Pople John Paul II, and the political rise of Barak Obama. Today, we talk about her amazing book White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters. It looks into Mary's complicated--and loving--family through the lens of the white dresses that the women in her family have worn on special occasions. You can find her and see what she's up to at http://www.marypflumpeterson.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mary.pflum
We welcomed Mary Pflum Peterson to the program. Mary is the author of White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters. In the book, Mary describes her discovery that her mother had a life as a nun prior to her family life. These episodes aired in 2015. Mary Pflum Peterson is a veteran producer at Good Morning America. Prior to joining GMA, Pflum Peterson was a producer and reporter for CNN, where, from her post in Istanbul, she traveled in and out of numerous warzones, including Afghanistan.
New York Times Best-Selling Author & Emmy-Award Winning TV Journalist Mary PflumMary Pflum Peterson is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning television journalist ... a New York Times bestselling author ... and an acclaimed public speaker.Mary began her career in journalism at the CNN-New York Bureau at age 20, while still an undergraduate at Columbia University. By age 21, she was conducting her first big interviews with political leaders the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. By age 23, she was reporting on-camera around the nation for CNN and filling in as an anchor on CNN Newsroom.Mary went on report internationally, covering everything from Vienna balls to Maltese temples - but calls the time she spent living and working for CNN in Turkey from 1999 to 2002 as the most formative period of her journalism career. ==========WHITE DRESSES:A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and DaughtersNew York Times BestsellerIn this riveting, poignant memoir of three generations of women and the white dresses that adorned them—television producer Mary Pflum Peterson recounts a journey through loss and redemption, and her battle to rescue her mother, a former nun, from compulsive hoarding.As a successful television journalist at Good Morning America, Mary Pflum is known as a polished and highly organized producer. It’s a persona at odds with her tortured childhood, where she watched her emotionally vulnerable mother fill their house with teetering piles of assorted “treasures.” But one thing has always united mother and daughter—their love of white dresses. From the dress worn by Mary’s mother when she became a nun and married Jesus, to the wedding gown she donned years later, to the special nightshirts she gifted Mary after the birth of her children, to graduation dresses and christening gowns, these white dresses embodied hope and new beginnings.
Mary Pflum Peterson joins us to talk about her book: White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters. She is an advocate for mental illness awareness which she lovingly details in her book and on our show. Join us for a powerful discussion about some areas in mental health, such as hoarding, that are still heavily stigmatized and misunderstood. Mary Pflum Peterson is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning television journalist ... a New York Times bestselling author ... and an acclaimed public speaker.She began her career in journalism at the CNN-New York Bureau at age 20, while still an undergraduate at Columbia University. By age 21, she was conducting her first big interviews with political leaders the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. By age 23, she was reporting on-camera around the nation for CNN and filling in as an anchor on CNN Newsroom.Mary went on report internationally, covering everything from Vienna balls to Maltese temples - but calls the time she spent living and working for CNN in Turkey from 1999 to 2002 as the most formative period of her journalism career. In October 2002, Mary returned to the U.S. to work for ABC News/ Good Morning America. Her time at GMA enabled her to cover presidential elections, Oscar races, Hurricane Katrina, the London bombings, royal weddings, the death of Pope John Paul II, and the ascendance of Barack Obama to national political power. It also enabled her to win a spate of awards, including five Emmys, two Edward R Murrows, a Peabody, a duPont, and a WGA Award.In 2016, Mary joined the Today Show, the morning program she grew up watching in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin- and the show she credits for making her want to become a TV journalist.In addition to being a decorated journalist, Mary is also a critically-acclaimed author. In September 2015, her first book, White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters, was published by HarperCollins. The book tells the story of Mary's decidedly complicated, yet fiercely loving family, through the white dresses that the women in the family wore on significant days in their lives. The book was critically acclaimed was a New York Times Best Seller.Mary frequently speaks to book and church groups, as well as to public libraries and book store audiences, about White Dresses - and about issues explored within the book, including hoarding, mental illness, nun abuse, and homosexuality. Her talks have been called "candid", "enlightening", "uplifting" and "eye-opening." Mary's mother was a compulsive hoarder - beginning when Pflum Peterson was a child. But no hoarding - no mental illness - hindered Mary's mom's ability to love. And it's that unconditional love that, Mary says, is the thread from which all good things in her life have sprung.www.marypflumpeterson.com
Mary Pflum Peterson is an Emmy Award winning producer for Good Morning America. She is a driven, highly successful television professional and former reporter for CNN. Her childhood, however, was complicated. Her mother suffered an emotional breakdown and took solace in hoarding, filling the house with "treasures." The bond that held mother and daughter was symbolized by the white dresses that marked important milestones in their lives. She tells her powerful and important story in White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughters.
Remember Kermit, the Frog moaning about the difficulty of being green? In today's show, host Asya Gonzalez looks at what it means to be green in a variety of ways. She kicks off the program reading the chapter, The Gift of Green by Cynthia Brian from the book, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS and follows up with numerous ways to be pro-active stewards of our earth. Economics Tune-Up Reporter, Alex Pawlakos looks at being environmentally astute from the viewpoint of our wallets. Save the environment and save cash. “Go green to save green.” Our special guest, Good Morning America producer, Mary Pflum Peterson, shares her love of Kermit with her compassionate and eye opening memoir, White Dresses, an exploration of a complex family history. She discusses her deep bond with her intelligent mother, a former nun, and gives us a peek into the underlying ailment of hoarding. Every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”
Remember Kermit, the Frog moaning about the difficulty of being green? In today's show, host Asya Gonzalez looks at what it means to be green in a variety of ways. She kicks off the program reading the chapter, The Gift of Green by Cynthia Brian from the book, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS and follows up with numerous ways to be pro-active stewards of our earth. Economics Tune-Up Reporter, Alex Pawlakos looks at being environmentally astute from the viewpoint of our wallets. Save the environment and save cash. “Go green to save green.” Our special guest, Good Morning America producer, Mary Pflum Peterson, shares her love of Kermit with her compassionate and eye opening memoir, White Dresses, an exploration of a complex family history. She discusses her deep bond with her intelligent mother, a former nun, and gives us a peek into the underlying ailment of hoarding. Every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”
What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you hold onto your dreams or go in a different direction? Happiness is doing what you love and loving what you do. Cynthia Brian shares The Gift of Dreams from her book, Be the Star You Are!® 99 Gifts for Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning to Make a Difference.. With compassion, honesty, and the keen eye of an Emmy-award-winning journalist, Mary Pflum Peterson explores her family's complex history in her raw debut memoir, White Dresses. We'll venture inside the secret lives of nuns in the convent, and learn about the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters. Burnout is one of the largest challenges of any work environment. How can you generate new enthusiasm for your job, especially after 50? Find out how to connect with co-workers to enjoy your career more.
September 23, 2015 Twitter Followers Kim Sutton & White Dresses Mary Pflum Peterson