CHRISTY BAILEY
PRAISE FOR HEADSTRONG
Christy Bailey’s ferociously funny, luminously lucid Headstrong slaps shame in the face. From the end of her marriage (back before divorce was cool) to the loss of her hair from alopecia areata, and from North Carolina to Honduras, Bailey confronts the social expectations that bind women and, with candid humor and insight, unwraps them to reveal the unvarnished beauty of being truly seen and loved.
—AMY MONTICELLO, author of How to Euthanize a Horse
Headstrong is a tapestry of serious beauty: in the face of major life losses, including the loss of all her hair due to alopecia, Christy weaves rich childhood memories, smart cultural commentary, and a striking resiliency that grows from her vulnerability and the self-exposing progression of her disease. Her book is a testament to the force that Christy was to all who knew her, and a lasting legacy of her unique suffering and the hopeful courage it imparted to her life.
—MEGAN NIX, author of Remedies for Sorrow
This is a memoir for the soul—one woman’s journey to find her true self inside her mirror. Battling self-doubt, a bad marriage, cultural expectations, and a body rejecting hair growth, Christy Bailey travels from North Carolina to Central America to Colorado in search of purpose and belonging, only to discover that her destination resides within. Headstrong redefines notions of femininity, strength, and liberation by showing us what it really means to be bald and beautiful. Christy’s voice resonates with sass, grit, wisdom, and light. It will sing for decades to come.
—HARRISON CANDELARIA FLETCHER, author of Finding Querencia: Essays from In Between
About the author
CHRISTY BAILEY devoted her career to crafting meaningful, memorable narratives as a magazine editor, marketer, PR professional, blogger, and creative nonfiction writer. With an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, an MBA in marketing, and a BA in journalism, she mastered storytelling from just about any angle.
She was active in Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, taught creative writing at University of Denver and Regis University and to students who were unhoused or living with chronic illness, and was a writer-in-residence at Children’s Hospital Colorado. A fearless traveler, she served in the Peace Corps in Honduras and traveled to nineteen countries. She had alopeica and was hairless for twenty years.