Oprah’s Finest Moments
One of our sweet deals- 52% off the subscription price for a year of O, The Oprah Magazine - got us thinking. She’s touched everyone on many different levels, but few people have had a greater impact on pop culture than the infamous media queen.
What immediately comes to mind is her book club. I, for one, have spent countless hours with Oprah’s book selections for her infamous book club. One of her 2007 picks, The Road, had a tremendous impact on my life and deeply inspired me. One of her 1998 picks Where the Heart Is, the story of a girl who gives birth to a daughter named Americus in the back of a Walmart, kept me turning pages all night. And Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much is True is, to this day, the longest book I’ve ever finished (998 pages).
And then of course there was her show; alternately inspiring, entertaining, and fun. It gave me something to look forward to every day when I got home from school. She always had the best guests; Nelson Mandela, famous casts and even a woman with 92 distinct personalities. She also always went on fun adventures. She taught audiences that big dreams are entirely attainable if you have the will power and courage to do so.
But my fondest memory is this: One Christmas Day, she had a very special episode about a girl’s school she was opening in Africa. She traveled to Africa and talked to the girls who were to be its first students; exploring their home lives and their willingness to learn and educate themselves amongst dire conditions. I watched it with my dad on Christmas day and it made both of us cry.
However you feel about Oprah, you can’t deny her cultural contributions to our world. She has had a lasting impression on all of us, around the world, and her impact will be felt for decades to come.
