IT WAS A crisp Sunday morning in September when people began to file into the Javits Center for a dose of hope. The “You Can Heal Your Life” seminar is just the sort of optimistic approach these 2,000 women and men—mostly women—needed. And it almost seemed possible since personal finance superstar Suze Orman was there to shore up the more dubious self-help nostrums. Black women and white, Latin and Asian greeted each other like old friends. Many were middle-aged, and had been here before for the same lessons in bootstrap survivalism. A few twentysomethings and geriatrics filled out the sea of Talbots-style sweaters and relentlessly sensible shoes crowding the convention center.
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