Diane Johnson has lived an interesting life. We can read a snippet of her story in an article titled "Accomplished volunteer travels the world" (Del Mar Times). Excerpt:
After graduating from law school, she joined St. Jude Medical, Inc., a manufacturer of cardiac devices that was headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. Not only was she the company’s first in-house legal advisor, but she was also the first woman in senior management. When she retired
from the company in 1997, she was vice president and general counsel.
...
Johnson decided to dedicate her retirement years entirely to volunteering for worthy causes. Since 1997, she has helped animals through Rancho Coastal Humane Society, the Pet Encounter Therapy Program at Helen Woodward ...
The article lists several other volunteer activities.
Her response to one particular question described what I found to be a both unusual and fun idea.
If you hosted a dinner party for eight, whom (living or deceased) would you invite?
I’d invite Jane Goodall because of her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania, Dian Fossey because of her work with gorillas in Rwanda, Laurie Marker because of her work with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, and Susan Butcher, who was the first woman to win the Iditarod Dog Sled race three times. Then I’d ask the Make a Wish Foundation to invite four Make a Wish kids who have a sense of adventure and who love animals.
The writer's final question to her . . .
What is your motto or philosophy of life?
It was at his death that I read what Sargent [Robert] Shriver told graduating students at Yale in 1994: “Break the mirrors … Shatter the glass in our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbor and less about your own.”
And, as is true with so many of the subjects of our life-after-law stories, Johnson practices yoga.
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