My Name Is Jody Williams. Jody Williams

       Highlighting the lives and experiences of marginalized communities, the select titles of this imprint draw from sociology, anthropology, law, and history, as well as from the traditions of journalism and advocacy, to reassess mainstream history and promote unconventional thinking about contemporary social and political issues. Their authors share the passion, commitment, and creativity of Executive Editor Naomi Schneider.

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      of California Press Foundation

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      My Name Is Jody Williams

      CALIFORNIA SERIES

      IN PUBLIC ANTHROPOLOGY

      The California Series in Public Anthropology emphasizes the anthropologist's role as an engaged intellectual. It continues anthropology's commitment to being an ethnographic witness, to describing, in human terms, how life is lived beyond the borders of many readers’ experiences. But it also adds a commitment, through ethnography, to reframing the terms of public debate—transforming received, accepted understandings of social issues with new insights, new framings.

      Series Editor: Robert Borofsky

      (Hawaii Pacific University)

      Contributing Editors:

      Philippe Bourgois (University of Pennsylvania),

      Paul Farmer (Partners in Health),

      Alex Hinton (Rutgers University),

      Carolyn Nordstrom (University of Notre Dame), and

      Nancy Scheper-Hughes (UC Berkeley)

      University of California Press Editor:

      Naomi Schneider

      My Name Is

      Jody Williams

      A Vermont Girl's Winding Path

      to the Nobel Peace Prize

      Jody Williams

      Foreword by Eve Ensler

      UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

      BerkeleyLos AngelesLondon

      University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

      University of California Press

      Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

      University of California Press, Ltd.

      London, England

      © 2013 by Jody Williams

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Williams, Jody, 1950-

      My name is Jody Williams : a Vermont girl's winding path to the Nobel Peace Prize/Jody Williams. — 1st Edition.

      pages cm. — (California series in public anthropology ; 25)

      ISBN 978-0-520-27025-1 (alk. paper)

      eISBN 9780520955332

      1. Williams, Jody, 1950—2. Pacifists—United States— Biography. 3. Women Nobel Prize winners—United States—Biography. 4. Nobel Prize winners—United States—Biography. I. Title.

      JZ5540.2.W56 2013

      327.1'743—dc23

      [B]2012031155

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures Natural, a fiber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

      For my family.

      To activists everywhere who work for a world of

      sustainable peace, equality, and justice for us all.

      And to those who want to contribute to change but

      aren't sure what they do will matter. Every action

      we take for the benefit of others matters deeply.

      Find your passion and work on it, even a couple

      of hours a month. It will change your world

      in ways you can't possibly imagine.

      CONTENTS

      Foreword by Eve Ensler

      Prologue: October 10, 1997

      PART I.

      IF YOU COULD BE ANYONE

      1. What Do You Mean I Can't Be the Pope?

      2. A Special Place in Hell

      3. Claude, Casey, and the Corvair Convertible

      4. V-I-E-T-N-A-M, Marriage, and Mexico

      Illustrations

      PART II.

      THE MAKING OF A GRASSROOTS ACTIVIST

      5. The Pamphlet

      6. Boots on the Ground: Sandinista Interlude

      7. Dinner with the Death Squad

      8. I Thought I Wanted a Straight Job—Instead I Got Landmines

      9. Landmines and Love

      10. The Ottawa Process and the 1997 Landmine Ban World Tour

      11. Whirlwind: October 10 to December 10, 1997

      Epilogue

      Acknowledgments

      FOREWORD

      Eve Ensler

      Jody Williams is many things—a simple girl from Vermont, a sister of a disabled brother, a loving wife, an intense character full of fury and mischief, a great strategist, an excellent organizer, a brave and relentless advocate, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But to me Jody Williams is, first and foremost, an activist.

      What is an activist? The dictionary says,