Remembering Phyllis Mindell (1937-2022)
Note: Phyllis Mindell, of blessed memory, passed away on October 21, 2022. She is survived by her sons, Joe and David Mindell; their wives Ossie Borosh and Pamela Mindell; and grandchildren, Arye, Samuel, Lucia, and Clara Mindell. Phyllis was predeceased by her beloved husband, Marvin.
Gifts in memory of Phyllis Mindell may be directed to support the Mindell Family Fund-Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Department of Surgery. Please make checks payable to Johns Hopkins University. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that this gift is in memory of Phyllis Mindell to the Fund for Johns Hopkins Medicine, 550 North Broadway, Suite 722, Baltimore, MD 21205 or made online at https://secure.jhu.edu/form/surgery by choosing “Other” from the drop down.
This website (PhyllisMindell.com, previously TheWordGrandma) contains some of Phyllis Mindell’s articles, essays, writing tips, and other works.
Read more about Dr. Phyllis Mindell below.
For nearly 40 years, as founder and president of Well-Read, Dr. Phyllis Mindell created, presented, and wrote all course books for seminars in women’s language, reading, writing, public speaking, and leadership. She also mentored young women who apply her ideas to their lives and work; they now hold leadership positions in medicine, law, psychiatry, business, and the nonprofit world. (Read about them in Profiles!)
As an original thinker in her fields, Dr. Mindell wrote five books, including Words: Connect, Clarify, and Lead (2021), and dozens of articles, columns, and research papers on all aspects of leadership, language, and communications. Power Reading was cited as one of the 30 best business books of the year and selected for Soundview Executive Book Summaries. A Woman’s Guide to the Language of Success: Communicating With Confidence and Power and How to Say It for Women, have sold over 200,000 copies and been translated into German, Chinese, and Arabic. How to Say It for Executives was lauded by the Carnegie Library. And you’ll find practical tips from those books right here, free.
An engaging, inspiring, and provocative speaker, Dr. Mindell keynoted and addressed such audiences as Simmons Women’s Leadership Conference, University of Michigan Medical School, Xerox International, and dozens of others in the US and abroad. Her students come from more than twenty countries, her corporate clients include Fortune 500s as well as nonprofits to whom she donates her time.
She earned the doctorate from the University of Rochester, the MS from City College of New York, and the BA from Brooklyn College. She has also done postdoctoral study in neurolinguistics, literature, and writing. Dr. Mindell held the title of adjunct Professor at Georgetown Medical School, where she helped scientists and doctors hone their professional and patient communication skills.
In 2021, Phyllis Mindell published “Words: Connect, Clarify, and Lead” with co-author Erica Bryant.
Phyllis Mindell passed away in October 2022, survived by her sons, Joe and David Mindell; their wives Ossie Borosh and Pamela Mindell; and grandchildren, Arye, Samuel, Lucia, and Clara Mindell. Phyllis was predeceased by her beloved husband, Marvin.