News > 2008 > May

"Beyond Miss World" - an autobiography of Jennifer Hosten, Miss World 1970

St. George's, GRENADA - A chance meeting on a plane with Miss Guyana propelled Jennifer Hosten, an unprepared BWIA air hostess, into the 1970 Miss Grenada beauty pageant. Within weeks she was standing in front of a crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall, being crowned Miss World. If she had bet on herself, she could have been rich as well as famous, because the London bookmakers were giving 20-1 odds that she would lose. Even then, or perhaps especially then, there was controversy about beauty pageants, and the contest was disrupted by jeering feminists setting off firecrackers and throwing missiles. Jennifer was undeterred (written by Ian Smillie).

This was just the beginning of the story of a beautiful and brilliant girl from the small island-nation of Grenada who conquered the world back in 1970.

Beyond Miss World: An Autobiography of Jennifer Hosten, Miss World 1970, (2008, 128 pages, Cole’s Printery, Barbados) is a beautifully written book for the delight of fans of Jennifer Hosten, Miss World, and pageants in general. Jennifer went way beyond being crowned the most beautiful woman in the world. A High Commissioner to Canada in the 1970's, a fighter for human rights and against racism, and a pageant organizer, Jennifer incorporates the whole essence of "Beauty With a Purpose", Miss World's motto.

Jeered by feminists in 1970, Jennifer makes no apologies for beauty pageants. “True feminism,” she says, “gives women the choice to follow their own desires.” The contest allowed her to do just that. It opened new doors for her, but most of them she opened all by herself.

Those interested in purchasing Jennifer's book may do so by going to the website www.beyondmissworld.com.

GB recommends it!

Special thanks to Jennifer Hosten

< back