In Like a Lioness

It's Women's History Month, so let's celebrate the lionesses in our life; plus, photographer Cathleen Naundorf, Fab 5 Freddy's influence, and mermaids.

Dear readers,

And so here we are in another month – March. If you put any stock in planetary influence, you know that things are in retrograde and all this other stuff that is intense, so that's why you're feeling off, maybe. It's also the Year of the Horse and that pony is trampling all over our faces. And, you know, there are the headlines.

Those headlines. I create this letter to give you – and me – something else to think about, something that proves there's a little bit of goodness and decency and delicious weirdness and randomness out there to savor. But I'd be remiss this week if I didn't say, "Hey, I've read it too. I know..."

March comes in like a lion, or so they say. But because March is Women's History Month, I prefer to say it comes in like a lioness, so let's all embrace that, shall we? I mean, the lion sits there with his glam rock mane and gets to be the symbol of courage and authority. And to be sure, lions provide their prides with protection. But it's the lioness who is out there getting things done, whether it's raising the kids and teaching them survival skills, looking out for the rest of the pride, or taking down prey twice her size. Lionesses adjust, depending on what hand they're dealt, and they persevere just as so many women have throughout history. I think of the two lionesses I've written books about – Genevieve de Gaulle and Raye Montague – two inspiring women who were just about as resourceful and resilient as it gets.

Go read about them if you don't believe me.

Another lioness: Cathleen Naundorf, a German-born fine art photographer who left East Germany before the Berlin Wall came down, only to capture a now-bygone time in haute couture with her painterly prints. I spoke with her at the end of 2025 for a story you'll find below. Not only did she escape an oppressive regime to do what she loved, but (and this didn't appear in the story) she began creating her own haute couture so she could shoot in locales with unforgiving elements. Archival Chanel isn't going to fare well on a beach, let's just say. So, at a time when we're all confronted with AI slop, and this weird need to get things out there fast and furious (and computerized), I really admire Naundorf's steadfast commitment to the slow and handmade. Below you'll not only see her photographic work, but notebooks full of her creative inspiration, which I find fascinating. Zoom in to read the story within the layout, or click the link, which might be a little easier on your eyeballs.

To close, has there been a lioness in your life who has had your back and inspired you in some way? If so, hit reply and tell me about her. I always love hearing your stories.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Until next week,

Paige

Now You See It

Cathleen Naundorf brings a painterly approach to her haute couture photography, now on display in Palm Beach

To read the story, which appeared in this month's Palm Beach Illustrated, please click here.

Writing prompt: Think about an unsung hero in your life and write about them. What made them a hero in your eyes? Do you think they minded that they didn't get a lot of credit for what they did? If you could tell them anything right now, what would it be?

A woman's best protection is a little money of her own.

-- Clare Booth Luce

Endnotes

"Fab 5 Freddy Told Me Everybody's Fly..."

The New Yorker once called visual artist and hip-hop pioneer Fred Brathwaite – a.k.a. Fab 5 Freddy – "the coolest person in New York." After all, he's one of the people responsible for turning street art into fine art, and for putting hip-hop on the international map. Next week, his memoir Everybody's Fly: A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture comes out. Among the fascinating stories it will tell is about how he introduced Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie to this new thing called rap, and how that created this big cultural moment around a little song called Blondie did called "Rapture". That tune was everywhere as soon as it came out in 1981, and it made history as the first song with rap vocals to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. As with so many other things in that era, it couldn't have happened without Freddy, who had a flair for bridging worlds and shaping culture. You can read about the "Rapture" moment in this excerpt, which ran in Vanity Fair. You can also see Freddy on book tour in a city near you!

Under the Sea

According to the BBC, there is a growing market for fantasy or "romantasy" travel, the kind that has you suiting up in a mermaid tail and getting away from the landlubbers for a bit. Click here for more on the best places to connect with your inner mermaid, and everything else you'll need to know, including what kind of tails to buy, where to book a photo shoot, and where to take swimming classes. The phenomenon is not just for the ladies, either, you'll see. "For me, [it's] about getting in the water and escaping from life for a little bit," says James Barrett, a blogger. "Pretending you live in the ocean and all your problems aren't around."

Things I'm Enjoying

Spring-like temperatures. The Public Notice: United States International Poster Biennial exhibit at MODA. The photo of my niece with pop star Sam Smith, who, I'm told, is the loveliest person ever. This story about how knitters got the Danish government to fund artworks honoring historically significant women. Record shopping with my dog.

Next Week

We're doing a little bit of time travel! Author Cathryn J. Prince visits us to talk about her forthcoming biography For the Love of Labor: The Life of Pauline Newman, which I called "a stirring, cinematic tribute" to a woman "whose Dickensian experiences as a child laborer in the early twentieth century inspired her lifelong fight for better wages, better hours, and safer working conditions."