Writer, Choral Director, Etc. -
Being True to Herself

"My early ambition in life was to try everything I found interesting and intriguing, to travel extensively and study people, and to remember that success means only that you pick yourself up one more time than you fall down," says Anne Korff of Newport News, Virginia. Although she modestly claims that "I am still a work in process," she has, in fact, succeeded remarkably well in her life's ambitions.

Anne's job résumé includes everything from serving in the U.S. Navy, to singing in a nightclub, to hosting cooking and weather shows on television. Widowed twice as a young woman, she raised five children by working two jobs. When possible, she took the children along to her second jobs, bedding them down in the nightclub dressing room or under the counter of an airport rent-a-car office.

Now in her mid-70s and married to a retired Air Force officer, Anne is busier than ever—directing a 32-voice women's choral group (which she also founded), traveling and leading tours to Scotland, writing articles for magazines and newsletters, and volunteering at her church, a nature center, and various civic and military organizations. "I want to wear out, not rust out," she laughs.

Anne grew up in Savannah, Georgia, in the heart of the American South. Her mother's parents came from Eastern Europe around 1900 and met and married in the United States. Her Scottish father traveled frequently to America with a musical troupe and finally settled in Georgia when he did not have the money to return to his homeland. During Anne's childhood, her father traveled throughout the South performing in vaudeville shows.

As a young woman unable to afford college, Anne joined the Navy in 1950, during the Korean conflict. "I really wanted to serve my country, because I was afraid we would lose our freedom if people didn't work for it," she recalls. "It was also an opportunity for me to expand my education."

At that time, women in the Navy were not allowed to go to sea, Anne says, but "for the first time in many women's lives, we got the same pay as men for doing the same job." Civilian attitudes were not always favorable, she adds. "We were looked upon as husband hunters and women of loose morals. In fact, we were very rigidly controlled. We had to live in barracks, we had curfews, and there were places in our quarters beyond which men could not go. It was almost like being in a convent."

After three and a half years of active duty at bases from Florida to Pearl Harbor, Anne left the Navy and attended college under what is known as the GI Bill, which provides free tuition for military veterans. Working full-time while attending school, she commuted at one point to a college an hour away from Savannah to take a 6 a.m. class, then drove back in time to start work at 9 a.m.

With a dual degree in journalism and psychology, Anne has worked as an editor, writer, press agent for politicians, advertising copywriter, and on-air personality for radio and television stations. "I think the best job for me was working as sales promotion director for a shopping center chain, because I got to use everything in my experience," she says. "I helped open shopping centers and set up the public relations program, did weekly radio and TV shows, wrote newspaper columns, and made personal appearances before community groups."

Among the biggest changes she has witnessed in American life, Anne cites "the opportunities for women that did not exist before, and the public's perception of women's role in society as more than just nurturers." But, she notes, the changes have come at a price. "Women are not as nurturing because they don't have as much time to enjoy their children." And as Americans have become busier trying to balance career and family, "the public has become less polite and less civil in daily discourse."

Anne also sees a difference between the typical American dream of complete personal freedom and independence and the achievable American dream, which she believes must involve social consciousness. "A woman, for example, can go out and get a responsible job and earn the money she wants only because there were women before who pushed and prodded and brought about changes in the workplace and in the laws. We all have a responsibility to create a climate now for the people who are going to follow us."

A deeply religious person, Anne says her faith in God is the most important thing in her life. When faced with a moral decision, "the very first thing I do is pray that God will help me see the right thing to do."

To the next generation, Anne advises: "Be true to yourself. You have to look in the mirror every day. You know whether you are betraying your basic beliefs, if you are living a lie or are being cruel to other people. Just be true to yourself." — Phyllis McIntosh

Next Profile >>>>