About the Author

Marian Leonard Tompson is best known as one of the Founders of La Leche League International, serving as its President for 24 years. Wife of the late Clement (Tom) Tompson, she is the mother of seven, grandmother of seventeen and great grandmother of nine. Marian's writing career began with her column, "Did You Know," which appeared in her high school newspaper. Since then, she has co-authored the first two editions of the best-selling Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and was the first editor of two LLLI publications, New Beginnings (originally LLL News) and Leaven. She has written forwards for numerous books and has had articles published in a variety of professional journals including Padiatrie and Padologie (Austria), Environmental Child Health, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and The West Indian Medical Journal. From 1977-1988 she wrote a monthly column for Dr. Robert Mendelsohn's newsletter, The People's Doctor. Through the years Marian has been a member of numerous advisory committees and organizations including the United States Breastfeeding Committee, The World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action, the Alternative Birth Crisis Coalition, and the National Association of Parents and Professionals for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth, all of which reflect her commitment to providing information and support for breastfeeding mothers and their babies. In 2001 she founded AnotherLook, a not for profit organization dedicated to gathering information, raising critical questions and stimulating needed research about HIV and AIDS as they relate to breastfeeding.