Accepting a ride on the back of a motorcycle when I was 18 from someone I barely knew. I grabbed my arms around his waist and off we went into the country. I thought this would be fun. Within two minutes we hit a smallrock, and I went flying onto a field of hay to my right and landed without a scratch. The biker wasn’t so lucky. He was knocked out, wound up with lots of stiitches in his head, and I spent the night in the hospital until I knew he was o.k. I was shaken as I knew how fortunate I was to have been spared injury, and felt terrible for the biker. But I never got on a bike again.

Well, it was involuntary, but being evacuated from a war zone was unsettling. The scariest voluntary thing was either going to Paris alone when I was barely 17 or getting very close to Murchison Falls in a small underpowered boat. Well worth it, however.

Living in Beirut and evacuating twice to London, the border between South and North Korea, flying in a typhoon from Taiwan to Hong Kong, I think thats it!!

I saw your interview on The Charlie Rose show and was absolutely WOWED by you all. I LOVE Peggy Noonan and read her column with interest every weekend. Lesley Stahl I have watched and admired. Liz Smith I have enjoyed forever. I signed on immediately and cant wait to see what happens in the future. Of course, I will gossip about this website to my friends.

Taking my first flying lesson at age 57 and then flying under a bridge that spans Galveston Bay. Making love in some very unusual places; in the lift to the Observation Deck at the Empire State Building not withstanding; moving half way cross-country at the age of 52 to marry a man that I met on-line. That was one of the best things I have ever done. He was my soul-mate, if ever such a thing exists, and an extraordinary person. When he died I accepted that I would be alone for the rest of my life. As fate would have it, my current husband walked into my business and into my life. Scary being married so late in life? Nah….!!

* travelled to Guatemala aone during the civil war 198 * hitch-hiked at 3 am in Toronto (1978) drunk and strung and picked up by a red velvet filled van by a man with a knife * tried to reason with unreasonable people catharine

back in high school, more years ago than i want to say, i met up with girls i was trying so hard to be friends with or part of the group. we drove to an apartment rented by one of the science teachers at the school. how bad could that be? there was a selection of pills strewn on the coffee table for our selection - stupidly i took one and to this day do not know what it was. i do remember the euphoria i felt as i hung my head out of the car window laughing and screaming! what danger did this man put “how many” teens as he gave them access to his bedrooms, capsules of unknown origins and alcohol then sending them out in the street. thankfully my one and only experience with this type of situation made me use common sense and logic from then on…

I, too, found out about you on charlie rose, but the joke by Emcye Edwards has been around for at least 2 years. Nonetheless, it’s worth passing on….I look forward to hearing opinions expressed by intelligent yet humorous women. Ask Bette Midler for a tidbit some time. Keep it coming…I’m a fan. Lynn Routier

The narratives on dangerous experiences are delightful. What a great question! Looking back at my life from age 66, I have done several risky things—some good, some bad. There are risks that are forced on you and risks dictated by a passion, a flame that just won’t be put out. The first risk I was forced to take occurred during my para-military training in Israel (my birth country). I was ordered to jump from a high post, two stories high, onto a large canvas tarp with handles held by the group of my peers. One by one, the kids were to climb up the post and when the sergeant gave the order to jump, the group, all together, would stretch the canvas and the jumper would land on it. When I saw the post, I was sick with terror. I pleaded for a way out, but I knew that in the Israeli army there was no way out. When my turn came, I walked to the post as one would to the gallows. As I rose higher and higher on the ladder, my head was spinning. From the ground the post looked high enough, but from the top it looked impossibly, unbelievaly high. “I can’t jump,” I said to the sergeant, feeling that I was about to throw up. “That’s the only way down from here,” he sneered. He prepared the group for my jump twice, but no body of mine fell into the canvas. Then I was flying through the air, sea and sky turning, ground gyrating. Thud! I hit the canvas. Everybody clapped. Only I knew that I didn’t make it. The sergeant, having lost his patience, pushed me. Forgetting my fears, humiliated and furious, I climbed up the post and jumped, on my own, laughing, waving my arms, smacking the canvas with a cry, “I made it.” I am indeed grateful to the Israeli army for making me jump because it taught me that fear can be overcome. The bright memory of the jump from a high and lonely post to a shaky canvas inspired me to acts of courage in a life strewn with risky leaps to an uncertain future. As for passion—mine was for English Literature. All I ever wanted to do was become an English Professor. After the untimely death of my first husband, I took my two little children and came to America. After years of work, I got my tenure in English, and now I am an English Professor Emerita. So I have done it. But looking back, I shudder as I see the narrow path of my climb and the sheer drop that was awaiting me at every turn. But that climb, tenacious and disciplined, has become (in addition to my husbands and children) the meaning of my life.

From what I’ve been reading…there are no ordinary women. Some of us just happen to be more famous than others for what we’ve done, and that’s alright. We all can’t be well known. There aren’t enough columns or magazines to include us all (even for as prolific and talented a writer as Ms. Smith). Dangerous things? *Driving 90 mph through the toll booths at Jones Beach, LI. *Going to Alaska for vacation and hiking in bear country. Didn’t know most of the place WAS bear country. Scariest thing? *Ending a relationship, quitting my job and moving to Alaska, alone, from the east coast (with no job), although to Anchorage where there is only the occasional bear sighting. Lots of men sightings, though, but as the saying goes here, “The odds are good but the goods are odd.” Most surprising thing? *Being here for over 15 years and still waking up amazed and happy that I live and work in such an incredible place with incredible people. Odd or not, I still fit right in.

The most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was to sell my house and move to Paris. Now every day is a new adventure.

I got into cars with drunk drivers. I was a drunk driver. I rode a motorcycle without a helmet. On Mykonos in 1966, I got on a fishing boat at dawn with one other girl and a bunch of fishermen. But by far the most dangerous thing I have ever done, and I did it repeatedly even when I knew better and when I knew it reflected poorly on my self-respect, was have unprotected sex with too many men. I am grateful every day for what didn’t happen. It was great reading everyone’s adventures and victories, whether physical, social or moral. We are tremendous and amazing.

Suzanne, this is my first time looking at this site and reading about all the dangerous things done I was frankly thinking oh well everyone has done crazy stuff and this is ridiculous, but then I read yours and and I can tell you “been there, done that” don’t give up the fight. I too filed against my company and I was the Equal Employment Opp complaints processing manager who handled over 10,000 emplolyment discrimination cases in my career. Tnen the good old boy network turned on me and devastated my life for many years. I still struggle to hold onto my sanity but I volunteer doing employment discrimination cases because most women do not really know their rights. I agree you are being watched-every step you make. But do what you do because the best revenge will be successd, and you will eventually have it.-and if it doesn’t come quick enough for you you can join with the few of us out here who still fight the good fight on a daily basis. My best to you I wish I could be there for you-but you are not alone., And please never trust anyone you currently work with. Haveyou engaged in mediation yet? Ask for it if they have not offered. Right back and I ill help you strategize, that is what I do. Hang in there until mentally you cannot take it and if that happens think about a stress claim=remember stress can kill-there is so much one can talk. Let;s talk.