"When I arrived on the public scene after the release of my first book in 1990, I was called "the academic Joan Rivers" -- a title I loved. Yes, Joan influenced me profoundly. Watching her on TV, I learned so much about how to work a crowd or wake up groggy students in my morning classes. With her combative, rapid-fire style, Joan has shown generations of women how to command a stage and make it your own."