Lee Woodruff: Perfectly Imperfect

Saturday, October 3
Start Time: 5:00 PM

Author and Colgate alumna Lee Woodruff '82 will read from, discuss, and sign copies of her new book Perfectly Imperfect: a Life in Progress.

All of the spaces for the seated reading/discussion portion of this event have been reserved.
However, if you would still like to attend, you may:
- Come to the Bookstore at 5 p.m.  If any of the reserved seats are not filled, you may be seated on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Come to the Bookstore at 6 p.m. for the book-signing portion of the event.

                                                     Photo by Stefan Radtke

About the book:
“You can tell a woman’s whole life story from the possessions in her jewelry box. Like reading a palm, you can trace the points where her life has intersected with memorable events, people, places, and loves. You can speculate on the essence of her personality, all from what she has accumulated in that box.”—from Perfectly Imperfect

In her acclaimed first book, In an Instant, Lee Woodruff, along with her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, wrote eloquently and honestly about the struggles they faced together as Bob recovered from a traumatic brain injury sustained in Iraq. Now, with the same candor and clarity, Lee Woodruff chronicles her life as wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

Woodruff’s deeply personal and, at times, uproariously funny stories highlight such universal topics as family, marriage, friends, and how life never seems to go as planned. On raising teenagers: “Now with a boy and girl on the precipice of serious adolescence, the bathroom door is sealed tighter than a government nuclear testing ground.” On her changing body: “Over the last ten years my own knees had begun to form those dreaded smiley faces, sagging underneath.” How she copes with tragedy: “Swimming surrounds me in the velvet wet of a bluish green world where I can dive deep down and sob with no trace.” Even her sense of style: “I’ve always been more Leave It to Beaver than Sex in the City.”

In a voice that is fresh, irreverently funny, and irresistible, Lee Woodruff traces the quiet moments and memorable events that have shaped her life in progress. Perfectly Imperfect is the testimonial of a woman who embraces the chaos of her surroundings, discovers the splendor of life’s flaws, and accepts that perfection is as impossible to achieve as a spotless kitchen floor.

About the author:
Lee Woodruff is the life and family contributor for ABC’s Good Morning America and a freelance writer. She is on the board of trustees of the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides critical resources and support to our nation’s injured service members, veterans, and their families, especially those affected by the signature hidden injuries of war: traumatic brain injury and combat stress. Lee Woodruff lives in Westchester County, New York, with her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, and their four children.

Reviews:
“Lee Woodruff is a modern day truth-teller. She is a laugh-out-loud funny, complex, contradictory, compassionate sister in the struggles and sweet successes of contemporary motherhood, sisterhood and wife-dom. An immediately relatable group of recollections and reflections on the often unfair, unexpected and unbelievably beautiful paths of a woman’s life.”—Jamie Lee Curtis

“Nora Ephron + Erma Bombeck = Lee Woodruff. This is the book for all the women in your lives!”—Liz Smith, syndicated columnist

“Reading Lee Woodruff’s warm, joyful, heartfelt essays on everything from sagging knees to facing a child’s disability is a little like staying up all night dishing with your best friend. You’ll nod in agreement, laugh out loud, shed a few tears, and come away with a renewed appreciation for the magic of everyday moments, which Woodruff celebrates with her characteristic humor and grace in Perfectly Imperfect.”—Ann Pleshette Murphy, parenting contributor for ABC’s Good Morning America and author of The 7 Stages of Motherhood

“I want to snuggle up with a cup of tea and Lee Woodruff herself. Perfectly Imperfect is like having an old, dear friend who you haven’t seen in awhile regale you with stories about life that you swear could be your own.  This book will become my constant companion.” —Rita Wilson