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{{short description|American actress}}

{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Bree Walker
| name = Bree Walker
| image = Bree Walker.jpg
| image = Bree Walker.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Walker at Common Cause Media Conference 2008
| caption = Walker at Common Cause Media Conference 2008
| birth_name = Patricia Lynn Nelson
| birth_name = Patricia Lynn Nelson
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| resting_place =
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| resting_place_coordinates =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| residence =
| nationality =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| other_names =
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| alma_mater =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Actress, Talk Show Host, News Anchor
| occupation = Actress, Talk Show Host, News Anchor
| home_town =
| salary =
| networth =
| height =
| height =
| weight =
| party =
| party =
| boards =
| boards =
| religion =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Robert Smith Walker|1980|1990}}
| spouse = Robert Smith Walker (married 1980–1990)<br />Jim Lampley (married 1990–1999)
* {{marriage|Jim Lampley|1990|1999}}
| children = Two
}}
| children = 2
| parents =
| parents =
| relatives =
| relatives =
| signature =
| signature =
| website = {{URL|www.breewalker.com|BreeWalker.com}}
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}


'''Bree Walker''' (born '''Patricia Lynn Nelson'''; February 26, 1953) is an American [[radio talk show]] host, actress, and [[Disability rights movement|disability-rights]] activist. She gained fame as the first on-air American television network [[news anchor]] with [[ectrodactyly]].<ref name="Keck">{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-16-bree-walker_x.htm |title=Embracing her 'inner freak' |last=Keck |first=William |date=2005-02-16 |work=[[USA Today]] |accessdate=26 February 2011 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref> Walker worked as a news anchor and/or reporter in [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[New York City]], and [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].
'''Bree Walker''' (born '''Patricia Lynn Nelson'''; February 26, 1953) is an American [[radio talk show]] host, actress, and [[Disability rights movement|disability-rights]] activist. She gained fame as the first on-air American television network [[news anchor]] with [[ectrodactyly]].<ref name="Keck">{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-16-bree-walker_x.htm |title=Embracing her 'inner freak' |last=Keck |first=William |date=2005-02-16 |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=26 February 2011 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref> Walker worked as a news anchor and reporter in [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[New York City]], and [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].


==Early life==
Walker was born in [[Oakland, California]] and raised in [[Austin, Minnesota]]. She inherited [[ectrodactyly]], a rare [[congenital deformity|genetic condition]], resulting in missing fingers and toes and [[syndactyly]] resulting in them being fused together.
Walker was born in [[Oakland, California]], and raised in [[Austin, Minnesota]]. She inherited [[ectrodactyly]], a rare [[congenital deformity|genetic condition]] which causes missing digits and [[syndactyly]], which causes fused digits.


==TV and radio==
==TV and radio==
After graduating from the [[University of Minnesota]], Walker worked as a [[disc jockey]] in [[Kansas City]], [[New York City]] and [[San Diego]], where she went by Bree Bushaw, her first husband's name.<ref>{{cite news|first=Nikki|last=Finke|title=A Different Kind of TV Anchorwoman|date=November 1, 1988|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-01-ca-603-story.html|access-date=October 25, 2023}}</ref>
Established and well into her career at the ABC affiliate [[KGTV]] Channel 10 in San Diego, Walker decided to go public with her ectrodactyly after previously keeping her hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic ones. With them now clearly visible, she continued her newscasting career at KGTV, then moving to the rock station [[KLNV|KPRI]] FM. She started her television career in 1980 at KGTV as a consumer advocacy reporter.

She started her television career in 1980 at [[KGTV]] in San Diego as a consumer advocacy reporter. Established and well into her career at KGTV, Walker decided to go public with her ectrodactyly after previously keeping her hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic ones. With them now clearly visible, she continued her newscasting career at KGTV.


==Acting==
==Acting==
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While watching the 2003 season of ''[[Carnivàle]]'', an [[HBO]] television series about a Depression-era carnival traveling through the [[Dust Bowl]], Walker noticed that no cast member had [[ectrodactyly]]. She requested, created, auditioned and won the role of Sabina the Scorpion Lady.<ref name="Keck" /> Her portrayal of Sabina appeared in three episodes during the 2005 season. She showcased her webbed hands as the series probed public attitudes toward persons with highly visible disabilities. She based Sabina on characters she knew existed in the 1920s and 1930s carnival [[sideshow]]s with names like "Lobster Girl" or "[[Lobster Boy]]." These were typically the best jobs people with ectrodactyly could have, with most others being hidden away.
While watching the 2003 season of ''[[Carnivàle]]'', an [[HBO]] television series about a Depression-era carnival traveling through the [[Dust Bowl]], Walker noticed that no cast member had [[ectrodactyly]]. She requested, created, auditioned and won the role of Sabina the Scorpion Lady.<ref name="Keck" /> Her portrayal of Sabina appeared in three episodes during the 2005 season. She showcased her webbed hands as the series probed public attitudes toward persons with highly visible disabilities. She based Sabina on characters she knew existed in the 1920s and 1930s carnival [[sideshow]]s with names like "Lobster Girl" or "[[Lobster Boy]]." These were typically the best jobs people with ectrodactyly could have, with most others being hidden away.


Walker furthered her acting career in 2006 by appearing as an inspirational woman with [[ectrodactyly]] on the fourth season premiere of ''[[Nip/Tuck]]''.<ref>[http://watch.accesshollywood.com/video/bree-walkers-niptuck/0 Access Hollywood story about Bree Walker on Nip/Tuck]</ref>
Walker furthered her acting career in 2006 by appearing as an inspirational woman with [[ectrodactyly]] on the fourth-season premiere of ''[[Nip/Tuck]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://watch.accesshollywood.com/video/bree-walkers-niptuck/0|title=Access Hollywood story about Bree Walker on Nip/Tuck|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012160902/http://watch.accesshollywood.com/video/bree-walkers-niptuck/0|archive-date=2012-10-12}}</ref>


Walker shares the on-camera narrator duties with [[Jon Elliott]] for the feature-length documentary film, ''[[Save KLSD]]: Media Consolidation and Local Radio'', which was first screened in April 2012. It looks at the shrinking number of corporations that control the majority of what Americans watch and listen to on TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. It was over four years in the making and was produced by [[Jon Monday]] and [[Jennifer Douglas]], distributed by mondayMEDIA. She is also in the film as an expert, speaking at a media reform conference.<ref>[http://www.sandiegomediareform.com/ San Diego Media Forum article about Save KLSD]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saveklsd.com/About_KLSD.htm |title=Save KLSD |publisher=}}</ref>
Walker shares the on-camera narrator duties with [[Jon Elliott]] for the feature-length documentary film, ''[[Save KLSD]]: Media Consolidation and Local Radio'', which was first screened in April 2012. It looks at the shrinking number of corporations that control the majority of what Americans watch and listen to on TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. It was over four years in the making and was produced by [[Jon Monday]] and [[Jennifer Douglas]], distributed by mondayMEDIA. She is also in the film as an expert, speaking at a media reform conference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiegomediareform.com/|title=San Diego Media Forum article about Save KLSD|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409192149/http://sandiegomediareform.com/|archive-date=2013-04-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saveklsd.com/About_KLSD.htm |title=Save KLSD }}</ref>


== Purchase of Camp Casey ==
== Purchase of Camp Casey ==
In June 2007, it was announced that Walker had purchased [[Cindy Sheehan]]'s {{convert|5|acre|m2|sing=on}} "[[Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas|Camp Casey]]" site in Crawford, Texas for $87,000, in response to Sheehan's [[Cindy Sheehan#2007|May 26, 2007 announcement]] that she would be selling the property and ending her antiwar activities. Sheehan handed the deed to Walker during her June 9, 2007, broadcast of "The Bree Walker show."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4667 |title=AUDIO: Cindy Sheehan Hands 'Camp Casey' Deed to Bree Walker – The BRAD BLOG |publisher=}}</ref> Walker has preserved the property as a peace memorial and garden and keeps it open to antiwar protesters.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Sheehan-sells-Crawford-Texas-land-to-L-A-radio-2556812.php |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |first=Angela K. |last=Brown |title=Sheehan sells Crawford, Texas, land to L.A. radio talk show host |date=30 September 2010}}</ref> It is featured prominently on [http://www.breewalker.com/camp-casey/ Walker's website].
In June 2007, it was announced that Walker had purchased [[Cindy Sheehan]]'s {{convert|5|acre|m2|adj=on}} "[[Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas|Camp Casey]]" site in Crawford, Texas for $87,000, in response to Sheehan's [[Cindy Sheehan#2007|May 26, 2007 announcement]] that she would be selling the property and ending her antiwar activities. Sheehan handed the deed to Walker during her June 9, 2007, broadcast of "The Bree Walker show."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4667 |title=AUDIO: Cindy Sheehan Hands 'Camp Casey' Deed to Bree Walker – The BRAD BLOG }}</ref> Walker has preserved the property as a peace memorial and garden and keeps it open to antiwar protesters.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Sheehan-sells-Crawford-Texas-land-to-L-A-radio-2556812.php |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |first=Angela K. |last=Brown |title=Sheehan sells Crawford, Texas, land to L.A. radio talk show host |date=30 September 2010}}</ref> It is featured prominently on Walker's website.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.breewalker.com/camp-casey/ |title=Bree Walker » Camp Casey |access-date=2011-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824084729/http://www.breewalker.com/camp-casey/ |archive-date=2011-08-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Walker has been married and divorced three times. She has a daughter named Andrea Layne Walker (born August 12, 1988) with her second husband, independent film and video producer Robert Walker, and a son named Aaron James Lampley with her third husband, news anchor and sportscaster [[Jim Lampley]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20119259,00.html |title=Sequels |work=PEOPLE.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abilitymagazine.com/walker_interview.html |title=ABILITY Magazine – Bree Walker Interview |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wxQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=andrea+layne+walker&source=bl&ots=C-LkNfAlhk&sig=Jx_MPEkzc-cHscCdkEEnrfBfARY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=A2t4U8vvI4S_sQSYwoKIBA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=andrea%20layne%20walker&f=false |title=Orange Coast Magazine |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070317/news_lz1mc17love.html |title='Love Letters' has familiar feeling for Walker, Lampley – The San Diego Union-Tribune |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-16-bree-walker_x.htm |title=USATODAY.com – Embracing her 'inner freak' |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-16/news/vw-240_1_bree-walker/2 |title=L.A.'S MOST VISIBLE Office Romance : When TV news co-anchors Jim Lampley and Bree Walker became a team off the air as well as on, tongues started wagging. What's it like to conduct a romance when so many people are watching? |work=latimes}}</ref> Her surname is taken from her second husband.
Walker has been married and divorced three times. She has a daughter named Andrea Layne Walker (born August 12, 1988) with her second husband, independent film and video producer Robert Walker, and a son named Aaron James Lampley with her third husband, news anchor and sportscaster [[Jim Lampley]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20119259,00.html |title=Sequels |work=PEOPLE.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abilitymagazine.com/walker_interview.html |title=ABILITY Magazine – Bree Walker Interview }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wxQEAAAAMBAJ&q=andrea+layne+walker&pg=PA46 |title=Orange Coast Magazine |date=September 1994 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070317/news_lz1mc17love.html |title='Love Letters' has familiar feeling for Walker, Lampley – The San Diego Union-Tribune }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-16-bree-walker_x.htm |title=USATODAY.com – Embracing her 'inner freak' }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-16-vw-240-story.html |title=L.A.'S MOST VISIBLE Office Romance : When TV news co-anchors Jim Lampley and Bree Walker became a team off the air as well as on, tongues started wagging. What's it like to conduct a romance when so many people are watching? |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=16 March 1990 }}</ref> Her surname is taken from her second husband.


She and her children were featured on an episode of [[TLC (TV channel)|TLC]]'s ''My Unique Family''; she refuses to answer questions about rumors that she has silicone lip implants.<ref>{{cite web |author=Haber |title=Awful Plastic Surgery’s Legal Lip Service |url=https://gawker.com/031337/awful-plastic-surgerys-legal-lip-service |work=[[Gawker]] |accessdate=28 October 2012 |date=January 27, 2005}}</ref> Her son and daughter both have ectrodactyly; she reacted very strongly on her blog to Oprah Winfrey's implication that a "normal" child would have all their fingers and their toes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.breewalker.com/2010/07/27/shame-on-oprah/ |title=Shame on Oprah |author=Bree Walker |work=breewalker.com |date=July 27, 2010}}</ref>
She and her children were featured on an episode of [[TLC (TV channel)|TLC]]'s ''My Unique Family''; she refuses to answer questions about rumors that she has silicone lip implants.<ref>{{cite web |author=Haber |title=Awful Plastic Surgery's Legal Lip Service |url=https://gawker.com/031337/awful-plastic-surgerys-legal-lip-service |work=[[Gawker]] |access-date=28 October 2012 |date=January 27, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116002626/http://gawker.com/031337/awful-plastic-surgerys-legal-lip-service |archive-date=16 January 2012 }}</ref> Her son and daughter both have ectrodactyly; she reacted very strongly on her blog to Oprah Winfrey's implication that a "normal" child would have all their fingers and their toes.


==Honors and awards==
==Honors and awards==
Walker was nominated and inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame in 2010 hosted by [[Women's History Museum and Educational Center|Women's Museum of California]], Commission on the Status of Women, [[University of California, San Diego]] Women's Center, and [[San Diego State University]] Women's Studies.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}
Walker was nominated and inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame in 2010 a collaboration between [[Women's Museum of California]], Commission on the Status of Women, [[University of California, San Diego]] Women's Center, and [[San Diego State University]] Women's Studies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Several Standout Women Among Inductees to the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame|url=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/events/03-19SanDiegoWomenFame.asp|website=UC San Diego News|publisher=UC San Diego|access-date=21 January 2018|ref=ucsd}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
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==External links==
==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0483914|Bree Walker}}
* {{IMDb name|0483914|Bree Walker}}

* {{Official website|http://www.breewalker.com/}}
{{Women's Museum of California}}
{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Bree}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Bree}}
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[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:Television anchors from New York City]]
[[Category:Television anchors from New York City]]
[[Category:Television anchors from Los Angeles, California]]
[[Category:Television anchors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Actresses from San Diego, California]]
[[Category:Actresses from San Diego]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Television anchors from San Diego, California]]
[[Category:Television anchors from San Diego]]
[[Category:Disability rights activists]]
[[Category:American disability rights activists]]
[[Category:American actors with disabilities]]
[[Category:American women television journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Television presenters with disabilities]]
[[Category:American activists with disabilities]]

Latest revision as of 01:21, 23 November 2024

Bree Walker
Walker at Common Cause Media Conference 2008
Born
Patricia Lynn Nelson

(1953-02-26) February 26, 1953 (age 71)
Occupation(s)Actress, Talk Show Host, News Anchor
Known forwork at WCBS-TV and KCBS-TV
Spouses
Robert Smith Walker
(m. 1980⁠–⁠1990)
Jim Lampley
(m. 1990⁠–⁠1999)
Children2

Bree Walker (born Patricia Lynn Nelson; February 26, 1953) is an American radio talk show host, actress, and disability-rights activist. She gained fame as the first on-air American television network news anchor with ectrodactyly.[1] Walker worked as a news anchor and reporter in San Diego, New York City, and Los Angeles.

Early life

[edit]

Walker was born in Oakland, California, and raised in Austin, Minnesota. She inherited ectrodactyly, a rare genetic condition which causes missing digits and syndactyly, which causes fused digits.

TV and radio

[edit]

After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Walker worked as a disc jockey in Kansas City, New York City and San Diego, where she went by Bree Bushaw, her first husband's name.[2]

She started her television career in 1980 at KGTV in San Diego as a consumer advocacy reporter. Established and well into her career at KGTV, Walker decided to go public with her ectrodactyly after previously keeping her hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic ones. With them now clearly visible, she continued her newscasting career at KGTV.

Acting

[edit]

Walker has also dabbled in acting, appearing as herself in the end-of-the-world science-fiction thriller, Without Warning (credited as Bree Walker-Lampley but referred to on screen as Bree Walker), and as television reporter, Wendy Sorenson, in The Chase. She also guest-starred on an episode of the PBS children's series, Reading Rainbow, to talk about her disability.

While watching the 2003 season of Carnivàle, an HBO television series about a Depression-era carnival traveling through the Dust Bowl, Walker noticed that no cast member had ectrodactyly. She requested, created, auditioned and won the role of Sabina the Scorpion Lady.[1] Her portrayal of Sabina appeared in three episodes during the 2005 season. She showcased her webbed hands as the series probed public attitudes toward persons with highly visible disabilities. She based Sabina on characters she knew existed in the 1920s and 1930s carnival sideshows with names like "Lobster Girl" or "Lobster Boy." These were typically the best jobs people with ectrodactyly could have, with most others being hidden away.

Walker furthered her acting career in 2006 by appearing as an inspirational woman with ectrodactyly on the fourth-season premiere of Nip/Tuck.[3]

Walker shares the on-camera narrator duties with Jon Elliott for the feature-length documentary film, Save KLSD: Media Consolidation and Local Radio, which was first screened in April 2012. It looks at the shrinking number of corporations that control the majority of what Americans watch and listen to on TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. It was over four years in the making and was produced by Jon Monday and Jennifer Douglas, distributed by mondayMEDIA. She is also in the film as an expert, speaking at a media reform conference.[4][5]

Purchase of Camp Casey

[edit]

In June 2007, it was announced that Walker had purchased Cindy Sheehan's 5-acre (20,000 m2) "Camp Casey" site in Crawford, Texas for $87,000, in response to Sheehan's May 26, 2007 announcement that she would be selling the property and ending her antiwar activities. Sheehan handed the deed to Walker during her June 9, 2007, broadcast of "The Bree Walker show."[6] Walker has preserved the property as a peace memorial and garden and keeps it open to antiwar protesters.[7] It is featured prominently on Walker's website.[8]

Personal life

[edit]

Walker has been married and divorced three times. She has a daughter named Andrea Layne Walker (born August 12, 1988) with her second husband, independent film and video producer Robert Walker, and a son named Aaron James Lampley with her third husband, news anchor and sportscaster Jim Lampley.[9][10][11][12][13][14] Her surname is taken from her second husband.

She and her children were featured on an episode of TLC's My Unique Family; she refuses to answer questions about rumors that she has silicone lip implants.[15] Her son and daughter both have ectrodactyly; she reacted very strongly on her blog to Oprah Winfrey's implication that a "normal" child would have all their fingers and their toes.

Honors and awards

[edit]

Walker was nominated and inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame in 2010 a collaboration between Women's Museum of California, Commission on the Status of Women, University of California, San Diego Women's Center, and San Diego State University Women's Studies.[16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Keck, William (2005-02-16). "Embracing her 'inner freak'". USA Today. Los Angeles. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  2. ^ Finke, Nikki (November 1, 1988). "A Different Kind of TV Anchorwoman". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "Access Hollywood story about Bree Walker on Nip/Tuck". Archived from the original on 2012-10-12.
  4. ^ "San Diego Media Forum article about Save KLSD". Archived from the original on 2013-04-09.
  5. ^ "Save KLSD".
  6. ^ "AUDIO: Cindy Sheehan Hands 'Camp Casey' Deed to Bree Walker – The BRAD BLOG".
  7. ^ Brown, Angela K. (30 September 2010). "Sheehan sells Crawford, Texas, land to L.A. radio talk show host". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  8. ^ "Bree Walker » Camp Casey". Archived from the original on 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
  9. ^ "Sequels". PEOPLE.com.
  10. ^ "ABILITY Magazine – Bree Walker Interview".
  11. ^ Orange Coast Magazine. September 1994.
  12. ^ "'Love Letters' has familiar feeling for Walker, Lampley – The San Diego Union-Tribune".
  13. ^ "USATODAY.com – Embracing her 'inner freak'".
  14. ^ "L.A.'S MOST VISIBLE Office Romance : When TV news co-anchors Jim Lampley and Bree Walker became a team off the air as well as on, tongues started wagging. What's it like to conduct a romance when so many people are watching?". Los Angeles Times. 16 March 1990.
  15. ^ Haber (January 27, 2005). "Awful Plastic Surgery's Legal Lip Service". Gawker. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  16. ^ "Several Standout Women Among Inductees to the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame". UC San Diego News. UC San Diego. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
[edit]