2006

Who: Betty Friedan
Major Accomplishment: With its impassioned yet clear-eyed analysis of the issues that affected women’s lives in the decades after World War II, “The Feminine Mystique” is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century. The book had sold more than three million copies by the year 2000 and has been translated into many languages.
Legacy: Despite all of her later achievements, Friedan would be forever known as the suburban housewife who started a revolution with “The Feminine Mystique.” Rarely has a single book been responsible for such sweeping, tumultuous and continuing social transformation.

Who: Aaron Spelling
Major Accomplishment: Spelling’s career was defined by size and volume. He carved a place for himself in the Guinness Book of Records for the most hours of television produced: more than 3,000. At one time, in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, Spelling produced seven hours of programming a week on ABC, a third of that network’s total prime-time schedule.
Legacy: “Beverly Hills, 90210” appeared in 1990. From that moment until his death, Spelling had at least two programs on network schedules. At the same time, his earlier series were playing in repeats almost endlessly and in almost every part of the world.

>>>NEXT: 2007 was not spared when it came to losing media legends…

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.