By Mary Susan Littlepage l TruthOut.com

Chicago-based author Nona Willis Aronowitz says that her mom, Ellen Willis, "raised me feminist," and "I grew up thinking that I could do anything." It wasn't, though, until after her mom - who was a feminist, journalist with The Village Voice and cultural critic in New York - died on November 9, 2006, that Nona was inspired to go road-tripping with friend Emma Bee Bernstein across the country.

While road-tripping they set out to interview women about feminism, their goals and worries and then turn their experiences into a book. After couch-surfing and photographing and interviewing more than 200 women, the pair wrote "Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism." The resulting book is a 220-page book full of colorful photos and lively interviews with 127 women of various generations and a wide mix of class backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, professions and social groups.

After Willis died, many of her friends and fans reached out to Nona to let her know how awesome her mom was, and that helped motivate Nona to learn more about her and what all she did writing-wise in her life. "I realized her influence, particularly on women," Nona, 25, says over iced chai tea lattes at the Iguana Cafe in Chicago, a relaxed place with exposed brick walls and light dance music. At the cafe, men in suits play backgammon, hipsters chat over lunch and other folks read and work on laptops.