Julie Chrystyn

Julie Chrystyn was born on a farm in a rural part of the former Yugoslavia, under its Communist regime. She was granted political asylum in the United States at the age of eight. At the age of twelve, she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis (curvature of the spine) for which she underwent radical surgery and spent a year on her bed in a full body cast. During that year, she mapped out the entire course of her life—and then proceeded to live it. She rejected the prognosis of lower-body paralysis and rejected the social and economic hardships of her family; she stubbornly defied all odds and worked toward her goals with a vengeance. Julie pursued an education in journalism, political science, and economics and eventually became a leading ghostwriter for some of the world's leading political figures and business tycoons. She ventured into business and philanthropy, and she married Dwight D. Opperman, one of the most prominent figures in America's legal world.