They can throw her out, but they can’t shut her up!
In 2008, Gloria Squitiro was legally banned from the Kansas City, MO City Hall, where her husband, Mark Funkhouser (“Funk”), was mayor. Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, USA Today, The Washington Post—even Great Britain’s left-wing The Guardian and America’s right-wing Rush Limbaugh—did stories about her.
Funk calls her “a skydiver afraid of heights”—someone who figures out how to spend a cost-free summer in Europe, arranges it all, but when it’s time to leave, has an anxiety attack walking out the door.
In this first volume of her humorous, sharp-witted, and brutally honest memoir, Gloria pushes past her fears, spends the summer abroad with her family (living far outside her comfort zone) before setting up a campaign office, and eventually, without any experience, helps Funk cross the finish line—only to learn that being Kansas City’s First Lady will be much more difficult than she could’ve ever imagined (but those stories are saved for later books).
In sharing her story of courage and becoming her New and Better Self, Gloria hopes to inspire you to also step out in confidence, to make a difference where it counts, and to stand up for others … and yourself.
Despite spending years in Nashville, Kansas City, and Washington, DC, Gloria Squitiro is still a New York Italian girl at heart, who can’t—and won’t—stop voicing what most of us know but are unwilling to say.
“A bundle of ideas” — The Wall Street Journal
From a reader on Goodreads:
"As a post-modern feminist - a girl trying to make it in a male dominated field - I appreciate Gloria's voice so much, and believe that it's one we all need to hear. Too often, women are instructed to achieve gender parity by "playing the game." Gloria is a living, breathing example of what happens when we stop playing the game, and start living a completely honest life. In this hilarious, colorful memoir, she takes the reader on a family journey across Europe through the lens of an anxious yet strong-willed mind. I caught myself smiling, cringing, and laughing out loud at all the things I would be scared to say, that Gloria states with unabashed honesty and humor. I may have been the lucky recipient of an Advance Reader Copy of this book, but I can't wait to order it for my bookcase. Looking forward to Books 2 and 3 in this series! "
