Novelist, columnist, feminist who once said that “all of the qualities that you need to be a good opinion columnist tend to be qualities that aren’t valued in women.” Quindlen was famously given the chance to speak her mind on the op-ed pages of the New York Times, an opportunity she attributes to the class-action suit that seven female journalists brought against the paper in 1974, alleging gender discrimination in hiring and forcing the paper to recruit more women. “I am an affirmative action hire,” Quindlen says. “And that is only a problem if you don’t cut the mustard.” She could, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992.