I’ve long been obsessed with what seems to me to be the extraordinary percentage of Costa Rican women who are outstanding in their fields: diplomacy, science, technology, sports, you name it. So I was thrilled when browsing books this weekend at my local Librería Internacional to find “Ticas Sin Miedo” (“Fearless Ticas”) on the shelf.

The project, which was crowdfunded through Kickstarter, tells the story of 27 remarkable Costa Rican women from all of the fields above, and more. Indigenous doctor Mirna Román Rodríguez, swimming whiz María del Milagro París Coronado, journalist Glenda Umaña Hidalgo, and 24 of their remarkable compatriots. You’ll definitely be seeing posts inspired by or drawn from it here in the coming months, but if you share my admiration for Costa Rican pioneers, you can also learn more here.

To author Dina Rodríguez Montero and the many people who funded her effort to tell these stories: thank you!

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! Each month in 2020 has a monthly theme, and February’s is marriage equality, so scroll back through the month to see several posts highlighting people and organizations working on behalf of this issue in Costa Rica.