the clintons are coming

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton head to Houston for 'gutsy' new book event

Chelsea Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will celebrate gutsy women in Houston.

Photo by Joe McNally

Equally celebrated and reviled, Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of society's great lightning rods. To wit: The controversial former first lady, secretary of state, and 2016 Democratic nominee for president caused a mini uproar when she recently sat and casually flipped through 60,000 of her printed emails at an Italian art exhibit based on the infamous messages.

While no amount of text has been spared on Clinton, she has, in turn, turned her attention to inspirational women who have not received the same attention. She and daughter Chelsea Clinton have published The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience. The book will be released on October 1 and is available for preorder.

To promote the new tome, Hillary and Chelsea will head to Houston for a special engagement titled “The Book of Gutsy Women: An Evening with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton,” on October 25. The event, co-hosted by Brazos Bookstore, will be held at the University of Houston's Cullen Performance Hall. Tickets are on sale now.

The Book of Gutsy Women celebrates more than 100 women who have inspired the Clintons throughout their lives. “Each of these women has fought and won the kinds of victories that pave the way for progress for all of us,” said Hillary, in a statement. “To us, they are all gutsy women — leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. This book is a continuation of a conversation Chelsea and I have been having since she was a little girl, and we are excited to welcome others into that conversation.”

The women featured in the book range from Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate activist whose Asperger’s syndrome has shaped her advocacy, to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century nun and poet whose outspoken views on women’s role in society scandalized audiences, according to a release.

Other noteworthy stories include Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon who was arrested more than once for wearing pants, and Marie Curie and her daughter, Irène, who worked side-by-side in their laboratory. Politico Shirley Chisholm, who ran for president in 1972 and paved the way for generations of women in office, makes an appearance.

Global figures include Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman to lead an African country, and Manal al-Sharif, who captured the world’s attention in 2011 when she filmed herself driving a car in defiance of Saudi custom. Here at home, Ellen DeGeneres stars alongside heroines in Hillary’s and Chelsea’s circles of friends and family, and more.

While it boasts an expansive roster of women, the Clintons say they actually had to whittle it down. “We had already written more than 200 essays, so we had to cut that in half. That was probably the worst moment of our writing experience,” Hillary said in an Instagram video promoting the book.

Both Clintons boast several New York Times bestsellers, including Hillary’s It Takes a Village (1996) and What Happened (2017), and Chelsea’s She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World (2017). Time will tell if this offering will land on the coveted list.

“The gutsy women in this book share a fierce optimism that their work and lives will make a difference in the world. And, they’re right,” said Chelsea, in a statement. “We hope readers will draw strength from their stories as we have, because if history shows one thing, it’s that the world needs more gutsy women.”

---

“The Book of Gutsy Women: An Evening with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton” comes to the University of Houston's Cullen Performance Hall (4300 University Dr.) on October 25. Doors at 5:30 pm; program begins at 6:30 pm. Each ticket includes a hardback copy of the book. $38.

celebrities tours books politics

room for improvement

Houston has work to do on ranking of America's fittest cities for 2026

Photo by Gabin Vallet on Unsplash

About 74 percent of Houstonians have exercised in the past month.

Houstonians are more fit than they used to be, but the city still needs to hit the gym. The Bayou City ranks in the middle of the pack in a ranking of America's fittest cities.

This year’s American Fitness Index puts Houston at No. 44 among the country’s 100 most populated cities, up from 49th place last year. Houston ranks 26th in the personal health category and a disappointing 64th in the community and environment category.

The index shows 74 percent of Houston residents had exercised in the previous month, 57 percent had met aerobic activity guidelines, and 33 percent had met aerobic and strength activity guidelines. The first two of those numbers are below the 100-city averages.

The Elevance Health Foundation and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) produce the annual index, which they say combines measures of personal health behavior, chronic disease outcomes, community infrastructure, and environmental factors “to provide a comprehensive picture of how well cities promote fitness and well-being.”

Arlington, Virginia, tops the index, followed by Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis; Seattle; and Denver. The Dallas suburb of Plano takes the top Texas spot at No. 12 nationally.

“The cities that consistently rank at the top aren’t succeeding because of one program or one investment,” Stella Volpe, past president of ACSM and chair of the Fitness Index Advisory Board, says in a press release. “They’ve built systems that support healthier living over time. They are the ones creating environments where physical activity can easily become a part of everyday routines.”

One thing helping Houston is its strong network of parks. In May, Houston landed at No. 10 in Texas and 69th in the U.S. in the annual ParkScore Index. That was down slightly from 2025.

Every year, land conservation nonprofit The Trust for Public Land rates park systems in the 100 biggest American cities on accessibility, equity, acreage, investment, and amenities.

Among other Texas cities appearing in the American Fitness index are:

No. 28 Austin, down from No. 21 last year.
No. 43 Dallas, up from 46th last year.
No. 69 Fort Worth, up from 80th last year.
No. 80 San Antonio, up from No. 94 last year.

“Where you live increasingly determines how healthy you are,” Volpe says. “The healthiest cities don’t just encourage exercise — they make movement part of daily life through infrastructure, transportation, and community design.”

fittest city plano rankings health