Proclaiming herself "full-figured and fabulous," Star Jones, a television personality who once weighed 300 pounds, discussed her new book and her highly publicized weight loss Saturday.
Jones was on campus to sign copies of her book Shine: A Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Journey to Finding Love. Jones, who co-hosts daytime television show The View on ABC, spoke of her experiences with obesity, spirituality and marriage to an audience of over 100.
Jones discussed the difficulties she faced losing weight in the public eye over the past three years.
"People thought I meant I was finding [my husband] Al," she said, referring to the fact that her new book's title includes the phrase "finding love." "But I was finding myself so Al could find me."
Jones began her television career moonlighting for Court TV and soon transitioned to legal correspondence with NBC, gaining fame for her coverage of the Rodney King, Mike Tyson and O.J. Simpson trials.
"What I find inspirational about Star is that she came from humble beginnings, graduated college, went to law school, stayed focused and was able to become a successful lawyer and parlay that into a television career," Medical School Executive Assistant and 2004 College graduate Rosemary Barber said.
Jones said that, while it was primarily written for women, she feels her self-help book has broader appeal. But men may not benefit, she said, from the book's confidence-measuring quizzes, nicknamed "high-heel exercises." In the book, she chronicles the "ups, downs, and sideways" of her struggle with weight and her spiritual life.
"I was full-figured and fabulous and moved to fat which moved to obese which moved to morbidly obese," Jones said. "My favorite scripture is: 'No weapon formed against you will prosper.' You have to learn, there are constant arrows ... and no one said the weapon wasn't going to form, just that you can't let it prosper."
Jones let women in the audience to relate their struggles to complement her own anecdotes.
When a woman from the audience cried about her struggles with asthma and obesity, Jones promised the woman that she would keep in e-mail contact with her through upcoming doctor's visits and dieting.
"I am with you. You are not alone," Jones said. "Just because they make fun of me on the late night shows, I have the same problems. You speak of God, but you have to have his shining face in yours at all times."
