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CREATED:20061130T200000Z
DESCRIPTION:The against-all-odds story of how a 28-year-old woman from California took 
 on the US government, changed thousands of lives, and made the ultimate 
 sacrifice.\n____________________________________________________\n“In all 
 the years I have lived, I do not know too many people who have made an 
 impact the way [Marla] has in those twenty-eight short years.”\n--Senator 
 Barbara Boxer\n\n“I count [Marla] among my heroes…”  --Sean 
 Penn\n\nMarla Ruzicka wanted to change the world, and she succeeded. A free 
 spirit who grew up in an idyllic small California town, Marla became an 
 activist at an early age, and she never stopped fighting.  Underneath her 
 bubbly, blonde appearance – this was a girl who once rollerbladed down 
 the halls of Congress -- Marla was a savvy political operator, a war-time 
 Mother Theresa meets Erin Brokovich, who sacrificed her life to give a 
 voice to the invisible victims of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. SWEET 
 RELIEF: The Marla Ruzicka Story, written by journalist Jennifer Abrahamson, 
 tells the unforgettable journey of an all-American girl on her way to 
 becoming a hero.\n\nIn SWEET RELIEF, Abrahamson recounts Marla’s quest to 
 improve the lives of the less fortunate. Marla’s journey starts in the 
 San Francisco area as a grassroots activist, through her travels to Latin 
 America and Africa, and finally ends in the war zones of Kabul and Baghdad. 
 \n\nYet, despite her sunny demeanor, bright California good looks, and 
 fierce ambition, Marla was struggling with her own personal demons.  While 
 everyone thought Marla was on top of the world, she was in fact a diagnosed 
 manic-depressive who battled an eating disorder, and a string of peaks and 
 valleys in her love life.\n\nThrough it all, Marla stayed dedicated to her 
 work, as she worked tirelessly to raise funds and awareness for the cause 
 closest to her heart -- the U.S. government compensation for the civilian 
 victims of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.\n\nEventually, Marla was able 
 to achieve her goal; she had a large hand in winning millions of dollars 
 from the U.S. government to support her cause. This was the first time in 
 history that the U.S. government had made a legislative effort to allocate 
 funds to provide reconstruction assistance to civilians who had been 
 directly harmed by U.S. warfare. Unfortunately, Marla would not be able to 
 see the long-term effects of her contributions. In April 2005 Marla was 
 killed by a suicide bomber on the infamous Airport Road in Iraq. She was 
 likely on her way to assist a family in need. She was only twenty-eight 
 years old.\n\nWeeks later, President Bush signed the Appropriations bill 
 that contained a provision for the fund that Marla’s work had inspired: 
 The Marla Ruzicka Fund, with almost $50 million currently available to 
 assist victims of U.S. warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan.  However, more than 
 any amount of money, it is Marla’s life story – one of unflagging love, 
 hope, courage, and determination – that may truly help change the world 
 some day.\n\nAs Jennifer Abrahamson writes, “When Marla was a budding 
 activist volunteering for Global Exchange, she seized on an idea to write a 
 ‘how-to’ handbook for other young people who wanted to make a 
 difference with their lives. Marla, of course, was too busy actually making 
 a difference to see it through. In writing SWEET RELIEF, I’ve come to 
 realize that Marla’s life is that handbook.”\n\ntickets: $10 advance,  
 $12 door, benefits Global Exchange.\navailable at many Bay Area independent 
 bookstores: \nEast Bay –Cody’s, Black Oak, Diesel, Moe’s Books, 
 Pegasus (2 stores), Pendragon, Global Exchange store, Walden Pond    \nSan 
 Francisco: Cody’s, Modern Times  \nTelephone ticket order: 415.255.7296 
 X253 \nCo-sponsored by KPFA, Black Oak Books and Hillside Club\nWheelchair 
 accessible\n\nInformation:  www.globalexchange.org\n\nAbout the 
 author:\nJennifer Abrahamson was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay 
 Area.  She has written for Slate, Salon, Elle, and other media, and worked 
 as a humanitarian spokesperson for the United Nations in Africa.  A job 
 with the UN World Food Program took Jennifer to Afghanistan, where she 
 first met Marla Ruzicka in 2002.  They began collaborating on this book 
 just before Marla lost her life. Jennifer lives in Brooklyn, New 
 York.\n\n\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/30/18334310.php
SUMMARY:Sweet Relief: The Story of Marla Ruzicka
LOCATION:Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St, Berkeley, CA
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/30/18334310.php
DTSTART:20061202T033000Z
DTEND:20061202T053000Z
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