Heroic, Hard-Hitting Hedy Lamarr

Dear Hedy,

You affect our lives EVERY SINGLE DAY... How can I thank you for teaching me so much? Little did people realize that behind that pretty face of yours, was the powerful brain of an inventor and the valorous spirit of a righteous fighter. You escaped the Nazi's and became obsessed with defeating them. You had to battle so many people—including the top brass of the USA military—to be taken seriously. Your brilliant innovations are STILL changing our world today, with satellite and cellular phone technology, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS! Below are five lessons I've learned from you:

1) You taught me to... BE ME: It broke my heart to read that you said: "My mother always called me an ugly weed." Yet, when you began to blossom, she thrust you into a beauty contest—which you won at the young age of 12. You despised the nonsense of women being devalued for being plain OR valued just for being beautiful, proclaiming: "Any girl can look glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid. You should have a brain, as well as a body." Pursuing your scientific interests wasn't considered "appropriate" for a girl, so you had to do it in secret. "I'm a sworn enemy of convention," you declared. "I despise the conventional in anything." When on tours of the National Women's History Museum, instead of resigning yourself to being bored, you paid attention and let yourself become motivated by all the outstanding women who came before you. Likewise, I am motivated by you.

At an age when women and girls were limited to wearing dresses, you defiantly declared your favorite clothing to wear were slacks. What freedom you inspired for women everywhere, as we dared to wear pants, too!

2) You taught me... IT'S NOT O.K.: You became fascinated by the cinema, and pursued acting as a way of escape. When barely 18, a director commanded you to disrobe in a film, and you protested you'd rather quit. He threatened you by claiming your family would have to pay for all the scenes filmed so far, if you didn't comply. Then, he recorded your face while someone was sticking your buttocks with a pin, and marketed the movie as the first orgasm on film. You learned the hard way not to take any guff from people in the movie industry—but learn, you did! About the powerful co-founder of MGM, you revealed: "Once when Louis B. Mayor insulted me, I poured a glass of water over his head."

Long before "sexual harrassment" was even a phrase, you weren't afraid to divulge to the press, the abuse that was going on in Hollywood, reporting: "The ladder of success in Hollywood is usually a press agent, actor, director, producer, leading man; and you are a star IF you sleep with each of them, in that order. Crude, but true." YOU were the beginning of change!

Even two burglars who had broken into your home to steal, learned, "Don't mess with Hedy!" When they were caught, you confronted them yourself.

3) You taught me... "THEY" ARE NOT ME: Since you shared Jewish roots, who would have dreamed your first husband would turn out to sell weapons to the Nazi's—and entertain Hitler himself? When you discovered the awful truth, he locked you away in his castle home. Rooms were bugged and a servant accompanied you at all times. When he was gone on a trip, you drugged a maid and stole her uniform to make your get-away to the USA; and obtain your divorce.

When Austria fell under Nazi control, you were living in the USA. By then, your father had died—but your mother was trapped in Vienna. As a Jew, she was in great danger. Having long ago forgiven her for taunting you as a child; you successfully managed to evacuate your Mom to London. You became OBSESSED with finding a way to defeat the evil Nazi's!

4) You taught me... SOMETIMES A NECKLACE IS A LEASH: Never again would you allow any man to control you—no matter how much they bejeweled you! Never again would you "settle"! As a result, you went through six husbands, total. After your many marriages you decided, "I must quit marrying men who feel inferior to me. Somewhere there must be a man who could be my husband and not feel inferior." Your quote that made me chuckle was, "Under 35, a man has too much to learn—and I don't have time to teach him."

5) You taught me to... TAKE THE HIGH ROAD: You reasoned that the Nazi's wouldn't be able to hack the Allied troops if you could devise technology that would automatically keep hopping from one radio frequency to another. So, you did! Now, ships and others could communicate securely! You came up with other technology innovations, as well... But, the USA military threw your ideas and your patent into a file, preferring you stick to entertaining the troops. They couldn't get past your beauty to see your brains... That was, sadly, the world's loss.

You had good reason to be bitter; but you took the high road because you truly DID want to support the Allied troops in any way your could, so they would defeat the Nazi's. So, you threw yourself into selling record-amounts of war bonds. In addition, you could often be found serving the soldiers' meals, at canteens. How you encouraged them before they went off to battle!

It was only AFTER your patent ran out, that the "powers that be" used your innovative technology to make billions for themselves—while you never received a dime. But, the thing is, you were never in it for the money... Your motivation was solely to stop the evil Nazi's with "spread spectrum torpedo guidance frequency hopping" as well as improving aircraft aerodynamics, and more.

Although you never received the recognition (or payment) you deserved while you were still alive; I'm glad you lived long enough to begin to see your brilliance start to come to fruition in helping others—not just in the USA, but in the entire world! I remember how your brilliance helped during the tense Cuban Missile Crisis... Your encryption technology allowed secure messages to be exchanged! On behalf of all the women and girls who came after you—and all of humankind; I want to thank you for inspiring us, for motivating us, and for making our lives better, every single day. Just look at all the ways your technology went on to help us in modern times! You were definitely a founding member of our 'Sister Circle'.

With deep appreciation and admiration,

Karla Bowen Herman