After Death of Co-Columnist, Feldhahn Discusses the Future of 'Woman to Woman'

By: Dave Astor The conservative Shaunti Feldhahn and liberal Diane Glass had a good thing going with the "Woman to Woman" point-counterpoint column.

"We were able to disagree without being disagreeable," Feldhahn said in an E&P phone interview. "It was very important for me and her to be friends even though we had differences of opinion on many things" -- adding that today's polarized America needs more of that.

After Glass' untimely July 30 death from cancer at age 42, the people behind "Woman to Woman" want to continue providing disagreement "without being disagreeable." Feldhahn, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (where Glass created the AJC.com-based column in 2002 and brought Feldhahn on as co-writer in 2003), and Universal Press Syndicate (which distributes the social/political-commentary feature to about 50 newspapers) are looking for someone to assume the liberal half of "Woman to Woman."

The Atlanta-based Feldhahn told E&P a number of candidates are being considered, but she's not sure yet when a successor will be named. One hopeful -- Andrea Cornell Sarvady, an author/magazine writer who's also been a teacher -- is currently a guest columnist in Glass' former slot.

"The one thing that's non-negotiable for me is that the person be someone I get along with," said Feldhahn. And she noted that it's important for the new person to live in the Atlanta area so that the "Woman to Woman" collaborators can occasionally meet with each other and Journal-Constitution editors.

Feldhahn said it's been "a little weird" working with someone other than Glass on the column. "I really like Andy, but it's like having a new college roommate or something," she observed. At the same time, Feldhahn said debating with a new writer in the column can be energizing because she has to take a somewhat different approach with her rebuttals.

The hope, of course, is that Feldhahn -- after a permanent liberal replacement is named -- will develop the kind of cordial working relationship she had with Glass. "Diane and I started out as business partners and became friends," she recalled. "She was a very generous personality and a hoot to work with. When you get involved with the day-to-day business and stress of life, you always enjoy people who don't take everything seriously."

Feldhahn added that Glass was an excellent writer as well as a new-media expert. At the time of her death, Glass was online director of new business development at the Journal-Constitution.

Glass and Feldhahn actually agreed on things about 20% of the time, Feldhahn estimated. But, given the point-counterpoint nature of the column, they couldn't address those issues in "Woman to Woman." Sometimes, however, Feldhahn and Glass would do a column in which they both agreed on the solution to a problem but had different methods of reaching that solution. For instance, "neither of us wanted to wreck the environment," Feldhahn deadpanned.

When she's not working on "Woman to Woman," Feldhahn is an author and speaker. Her books include "spiritual thrillers" as well as a series that began in 2004 with "For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men" and than continued with titles such as "For Men Only," "For Young Women Only," and -- coming in two weeks -- "For Parents Only." The "For ... Only" series has sold more than one million copies and been translated into 18 languages.

"One of the reasons I got invited to do the column with Diane was because I'm an author and speaker in the Christian arena," Feldhahn said.

Feldhahn does about 50 speaking engagements a year throughout the country. When interviewed by E&P, the columnist was returning to Atlanta from a speech in Texas to briefly visit her husband and two children (7 and 4) before flying west again to Arizona for another appearance.

Universal is happy "Woman to Woman" will continue making appearances in newspapers. "We were as shocked and saddened as all the rest of Diane's friends and work associates when she was stricken ill and died so quickly," said Kathie Kerr, Universal's assistant vice president, communications. "But Shaunti and the Journal-Constitution have been so supportive in continuing the column. The debate format that gets two women's points of views across is very important on the eve of this election year."

Feldhahn and Sarvady's current column can be seen here.