Nancy Lanoue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nancy Lanoue | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 30, 1952 |
| Education | |
| Known for | Women's health advocacy and martial arts education |
Nancy Lanoue (born May 30, 1952) is a women's health advocate and self-defense instructor, with both areas focusing on the LGBTQ+ community.[1]
Lanoue was born the youngest of three children. Her father was Frederick Lanoue, a swimming coach and the inventor of "drownproofing." From when she was six years old, Lanoue taught alongside her father. When Frederick Lanoue died of a cerebral hemorrhage while teaching his method to Marine Corps recruits, she became the instructor, teaching his method over the summer.[2]
At eighteen, Lanoue went to Sarah Lawrence College. Her mother died six months into her time in college.[2] She then completed a joint master's degree at Columbia University in journalism and international affairs.[3]
Career
Lanoue worked as a reporter for the New York Post and Reader's Digest Press.[4] She took self-defense courses to feel safer while on assignment.[3] Lanoue studied Seido karate under its founder, Shihan Tadashi Nakamura, and discovered a passion for the practice.[3][5]
In 1979, Lanoue founded the Safety Fitness Exchange (SAFE) in New York City. SAFE was the city's first community organization specializing in women's self-defense and rape prevention.[4]
In 1984, Lanoue and her partner, Jeanette Pappas, moved to Chicago, hoping to build a gym and self-defense training center. They opened The Women's Gym in 1985, which became a gathering location for lesbians.[4] Two years later, Lanoue was diagnosed with breast cancer.[3] She had a mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy.[6] Two years after Lanoue's diagnosis, Pappas was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The couple closed the gym in 1989 as they pursued treatments for Pappas in California.[4][6] Pappas worked to provide information about breast cancer to Chicago's lesbian community. Lanoue continued with this after Pappas died in 1989.[4]
In 1990, Lanoue opened Thousand Waves Spa[6] a center focused on women.[3] The next year, her new partner, Sarah Ludden, moved to Chicago from California to assist in running the organization, expanding to the Thousand Waves Martial Arts & Self-Defense Center.[3][4] As the organization grew, it expanded to provide classes for children, and then for adults of all genders.[3] Lanoue served as the training consultant for the Pink Angels Anti-Violence Project.[7]
In 1994, Lanoue competed in the 1994 Gay Games, winning a gold medal in the black belt masters Kata division and a bronze medal in the sparring competition for women thirty-five and over.[8]