“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” ― Gloria Steinem
“When humans are ranked instead of linked, everyone loses.” ― Gloria Steinem, from her 2015 book ‘My Life On The Road’
A Few Words of Tribute by Doug Draper
Posted September 3rd, 2026 on Niagara At Large
Activist, humanitarian Glorie Steinem
After a restless night of worry over the possibility of more flooding rain swamping the basement of my family’s home in Niagara (which did not happen this time, Thank God), I didn’t need to wake up this morning of September 3rd to the “Breaking News” that Gloria Steinem died.
In the mid- to late-1960s, when I was still just a kid growing interested in the civil rights, anti-war and all of the other movements bursting to the forefront back then, there she was – a young, courageous, charismatic woman of deep intellect –drawing me in to the struggle for equal rights and opportunities for women too.
As a journalist, among other things, and her own excellent work as a freelancer reporting on a host of political and social issues for prominent newspapers and magazines, she played a significant role in making it possible for other women to find employment in a newsroom writing about more than food recipes, the latest fashions in clothing and the like.
When I left The St. Catharines Standard some 26 years ago, after the local family that once owned and operated it with such loving care sold it to corporate owners who took a meat axe to its newsroom, I took the liberty of taking with me a large black and white photo that had been hanging on the wall for years and that was now unceremoniously leaning between an old filing cabinet and a wall as if it was about to be tossed in the garbage.
The photo showed The Standard newsroom sometime in the 1950s and it was striking to see that it was full of men writing and editing stories for the paper. Not one woman was in the room – not a single one!
It was activists like Gloria Steinem who changed all that so that by the time the Burgoyne family sold The Standard in the mid-1990s, at least half the reporters and editors in the newsroom were women and a good many women were producing award-winning news articles for other newspapers and magazines, and hosting newscasts on radio and TV.
Through all of that and through her ongoing efforts to help build a better world for all of us, Gloria Steinem became one of my heroes and I can’t believe she is gone at a time when we need people like her the most.
R.I.P. Gloria
Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
To view a short tribute aired by the Associated Press, click on the screen immediately below –
NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Below and by sharing the Niagara At Large site at www.niagaraatlarge.com with all of your friends and associates.
Visit us every day on www.niagaraat.arge.com and on Doug Draper’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/doug.draper.180 and encourage everyone else you know to do the same. Let’s build media outlets for local news and commentary!
Niagara At Large 