By Associated Press, 11/18/02

POINT REYES STATION, Calif. -- Concerned that war against Iraq is imminent, 50 women took off their clothes in the cold rain and lay end-to-end in the grass to spell out P-E-A-C-E.

The unusual protest was organized in just a few days by artist Donna Sheehan, 72, who wanted to convey the desperation she said women in particular feel about the coming military action.

"I just thought, what can I do? What can we do? It's a desperate feeling. Well, this is what I did," Sheehan said Friday. "And every other woman who was there felt like they were doing something for peace."

Sheehan called her friends, they called their friends, and by Tuesday afternoon, they were ready to pose for local photographer Art Rogers in a baseball field in this small town just north of San Francisco.

As soon as they took off their clothes, a cold rain began to fall.

"By the time we'd stripped, with a lot of squealing and giggling and whooping and hollering, it was really raining," she said. "But we had fun. It was very empowering."

All the women signed documents allowing their images to be sold, with proceeds going to the peace movement. The Point Reyes Light, the local weekly newspaper, published the picture on Thursday.