Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties by Rachel Cooke

The book title is rather self-explanatory. You know what this one is about. Ten women with brilliant careers in the fifties. As usual with a biography, half of it bored me; and half of it was intriguing. No offense to anyone, but a woman who wrote a cookbook doesn't interest me much; neither does a gardener. But some of the women featured in this book really did interest me and made for good reading:

Sheila van Damm: race-car driver and nightclub manager.

What interested me about her is that she felt great fear before racing. Racing in the fifties was not as "safe" as it is today. The book points this out with hard facts about deaths, not only of drivers but of bystanders being decapitated by flying debris and death from car fires. It was a serious and deadly business and though she was afraid, van Damm kept driving, even entering the most dangerous race in the world. And even better, she was known for finishing every one, no matter her placing. She was also a pilot. When her dad said he wanted to start a charter company and told her to "Go and learn to fly," she did just that. Though it was a failed business, again, this woman faced her fears. She even joined the Volunteer RAF Reserve.

Before rally races, she worked as a driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
Her side business, her dad's business that she later took over, was running a club called The Windmill. The bits about the club itself really hooked me, even when they weren't related to van Damm herself. Such as the fact they could have nude girls, provided they didn't move, so that women were nude but stood frozen for 12 minutes--except during a particular bad bombing in the Blitz, when one nude girl wearing nothing but a hat broke the rule by thumbing her nose at the planes above.

Also of interest to me are the lady film directors. Muriel Box, according to this book, was a feminist and if you watch her movies and are savvy enough, you'll detect a feminist message/undertone in the films.

Matter of fact, I'm going to watch one of the movies directed by her this week--the only one I could find here in the States available to me, The Truth About Women.

Here is another example of a woman who refuses to give up. While critics were sneering about her last movie, she was hard at work on the next one. It was not a welcoming industry to women in those days--is it now either? I know Hollywood is def male-dominated...

An interesting bit in the book tells about how the film industry came to her, which is very cool because she'd always wanted to work with movies, and one day she meets the right person on a train... I also liked reading about how this woman just walked out of her family home with nothing but a bag, and made good for herself.

She later started her own feminist publishing company, Femina. This "chapter" also introduces us to Betty Box, Muriel's SIL and a movie producer. TBH, I lost interest in the women themselves as I read this and began looking up all their movies as I'm an old-movie buff. I'm sad to say I can't find some of them available for viewing. Namely, Both Sides of the Law AKA Street Corner. Someone, please, make this movie available on streaming or even TCM.

Moving on, another woman I enjoyed reading about is England's first woman judge, Rose Heilbron. Here is a strong woman who maintained her femininity while rising from lawyer to judge. After her mother's death long before, she put her own dreams on hold to help her family. Something particularly touching she did was to rent a wig and gown and appear at her deceasing mother's bedside, as she knew her mother would not live long enough to actually see her daughter succeed. Her chapter starts with the relating of an interesting case about a burned houseboat. She had one daughter and after the difficult birth, was back in court in just 6 weeks, and this after nearly dying.

I enjoyed reading about a few of these women, but must confess like many biographies (and the reason I tend to avoid them) it drops fact after fact after fact in a manner in which we can't possibly remember half of it. Also, a few of the women seemed unlikable to me, flitting around lover to lover, hurting many people as they go. Is it admirable that they saw what they wanted and took it? Yes, but it's hard to read about people you probably wouldn't stand in real life. I'm not sure I would have chosen some of the women featured myself.

Eleanor Roosevelt's Life of Soul Searching and Self Discovery by Ann Atkins

This is a very short biography, not a long and drawn out 500 page thing. It tells the need to know information about Eleanor. By need to know, I mean:

Where she came from: A very dysfunctional family. Her father was a womanizer and a suicidal alcoholic. Her mother felt that she was ugly and did not make a secret of it. Imagine growing up in that environment.


How she rose above it: Went to boarding school, dealt with the death of her parents, slowly began to find herself when she met Franklin and it all came crashing down. She married a man much like her father.
She was a doormat for a long time: to Franklin's mother and Franklin himself. It took a betrayal by Franklin and her best friend to make her wake up and begin being just Eleanor again. Unfortunately, in a way, she lost her children to her mother in law.


She stood up for the little people: She stood up for women:


"Eleanor not only conducts her own press conferences, she flaunts the 'men only' rule at press conferences with Franklin, making hers only for women journalists.Since newspapers want to carry stories about Eleanor, this policy give job assurance for many female reporters. What critics deem conniving, Eleanor sees as leveling the playing field."

She stood up for African Americans in her speeches, her policies, and her actions:


"As she is leaving her hairdresser, an African American youth backs his car into her and knocks her down. This being 1959 Eleanor doesn't want to chance a racial incident and tell the young man to hurry on before people can gather."


She supported the troops during the war:


"She walks to each truck load and wishes the boys good luck. On that day, Eleanor's unpretentious ways make her every soldier's mother. Upholding the written rule, "Don't cry in front of the boys," she bids them each farewell. Although those with Eleanor report, "her voice quavered."
Conclusion: An enlightening biography of a woman who rose from a twisted home to make something of herself and change the world. (Great photos in here too.) Four stars due to one minor annoyance that I found a tad odd for a biography: the use of the present tense. 


I received this book from the author.

American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee

This is a biography about one of the most famous strip teasers in American history.  And I don't mean pole dancing, but burlesque.  This is a woman who would remove pins from her outfit one by one and throw them in a nearby tuba and show only one body part at a time.  It was stripping before it became "stripping."  It was stripping when stripping had a measure of class about it.  (I know that sounds funny, but seriously.)

Gypsy Rose Lee aka Rose Louise Havoc aka Hard boiled Rose had a rough life.  She was an unwanted child.  When her prettier, more dainty sister was born to her mother, Rose, her mother actually changed Gypsy's name from Ellen June (the more desired and prettier name) to Rose Louise in order to give the new, better daughter the name Ellen June.  Neither sister was educated.  Each one was forced to sing and dance in Vaudeville their entire lives and support their greedy mother, Rose.  The book talks a lot about the growing tensions between Rose and June who later became a well known actress, June Havoc.

"June is idealistic and Gypsy pragmatic, Gypsy untalented and June unbright, Gypsy makes life fun and June infuses it with drama; June is generous and Gypsy tight.  June is an actress but Gypsy is a presence."  That sums it up nicely.  Their mother pitted the two girls against each other their entire lives.  However, even after their mother's death, both women competed against each other.  They even attempted to write their memoirs at the same time. 

A lot of the book is about their mother, a cruel woman that worked them to the bone and gave no thoughts whatsoever to June's bleeding three year old toes.  She stole from hotels and forged documents.  She was determined to keep her daughters babies the rest of their lives and lied about their ages to the point the girls didn't even know old they were.  On her deathbed, she told Gypsy, "This isn't the end.  Wherever you go, as long as either of you lives, I'll be right there. . . . So go on, Louise, tell all your classy friends how funny I was, how much smarter you were than me.  When you get your own private kick in the a**, just remember:  it's a present from me to you."

Lovely deathbed confession.

The book chronicles Gypsy's somewhat unwilling move from the Vaudeville circuit to Burlesque, her transition from virginal girl to a gangster's woman, her numerous different skits, her novel writing, her marriages, her ulcers, her hated teeth, and how moving pictures ruined the theater life. 

I found the book interesting, but there were two things I didn't like.  1.  The book jumps back and forth rather than going in chronological order.  One chapter is about the creation of a cow costume they used in the 1920s.  The next chapter jumps to Gypsy's affair with Mike Todd in the 40s.  The next chapter goes back to when she was 15 years of age.  2.  I didn't care for the parts about the Minsky brothers.  Yes, they are relevant to Gypsy's tale.  I just wasn't interested in them.  

Fabulous quote:  "I want to be a legend.  A fad is just one step along the way."

I received this book from the publisher via Shelf Awareness.  Thank you.

Yes She Can!: Women's Sports Pioneers by Glenn Stout

I could spend my review just gushing about this biographical book or I can do a really cool summary of it and hopefully get your interest.  It's a short read full of fascinating information about fascinating women in sports history. 

The first woman the book talks about is Trudy Ederle.

Trudy was the first woman to swim the English Channel, all 21 miles from France to the coast of England.  Only 5 men had accomplished this task by the time Trudy did it in fourteen hours and 31 minutes, nearly two hours faster than the male record holder's. 

Funny stuff:  Trudy and her sister invented the first bikini.  When Trudy first began swimming, she had a rope tied around her waist and instructors declared her "too wild."

Amazing thing:  Trudy was also partially deaf.  Thus, she helped not only the future of women's sports, but also deaf culture.

The second woman is Louise Stokes and I was unable to find a picture of her.  She was a runner and with Theodora Ann Pickett, one of the first African American woman to be on a U.S. Olympic team. 

Amazing thing:  In Massachusetts, girls were not allowed on the boys' running field.  Louise and her team mates had to run alongside rail road tracks due to a lack of a real track.

I mentioned Theodora Ann Pickett, aka Tidye.

Tidye was also an African American runner, daring to stretch her legs in a time when running was "dangerous to feminine nature."  Her and Louise were accepted on the 1932 and 1936 Olympic team.  Tidye is officially the first African American woman to compete in the Olympics.  Louise was unable to compete and there is sad story here, but you have to read the book to find out.

Another woman in the book is Julie Krone.

She was a female jockey in a time when the field was mostly dominated by men.  Come to think of it, the field is still mostly male.. She started as a hot walked and horse bather and in 1981 won her first race. 

Amazing thing:  In a race one day, a fellow jockey (male) whipped her face, cutting her ear.  This chick didn't cry about it.. She punched him in the nose!  There's more to that story too, but I don't want to be accused of spoilers..

The last woman is Danica Patrick.

The book talks about her Formula racing in England, her sponsors, her quick rise to fame, and having to prove herself in the Indy 500 and win.

Funny thing:  Danica wrecked her first go kart!

Amazing thing: She is only 5 feet tall and weights just over a hundred pounds.

I highly recommend this book, which I got from netgalley by the way.  The only reason it doesn't get a five star is because both Danica's and Julie's parts had a little too much "play by play" run down of their races; which car or horse was where at a given time...

Four stars.  And though this is aimed at the teen crowd, I think adults will love it just as much.



Angelina (An Unauthorized Biography) by Andrew Morton

First of all, I'm reviewing the book, not the woman herself.  I didn't love the book for a couple of reasons.  A.  It's hard to say what is fact and what is fiction.  This book really doesn't say anything good about Angelina Jolie.  I find it hard to believe she is ALL bad.  Thus, it had a tabloid feel here and there.  B.  TOO much crap about her parents.  The first quarter of the book was about Jon Voight and Marcheline's messy divorce and his leaving her for another woman more into "free love".  If the book is accurate, Angelina's mother pretty much brainwashed her into hating her father.  The guy never had a chance..

Some interesting stuff I learned from the book: 

Angelina's paternal grandmother was burried in a red bikini with a set of golf clubs in the casket.

When filming Tomb Raider, Angelina was on a curfew.  I guess they really wanted to make sure she behaved.  She was a heroin addict at the time.

At one point in her life, Angelina was shuffling five lovers (This is what the book has me believing.. I don't know for sure!!)  Mick Jagger, Johnny Lee Miller, Jenny the Calvin Klein model, Tim Hutton, and Billy Bob.

And apparently, Billy Bob was engaged to Laura Dern when he married Angie in Vegas.  I know this is normal behavior for Hollywood.. BUT Laura Dern actually babysat Angelina when she was a kid.  This just seems wrong!



I could go on but I risk sounding like a tabloid myself.  Something funny tho:  When they were casting for Beyond Borders, Kevin Costner was supposed to be the lead, Angelina's on screen love interest.  But Angelina supposedly said that he was too old for her.  He was the same age as her husband Billy Bob at that time.   LOL

Basically, this book makes Angelina out to be a home wrecker, a heroin addict, and tho the book did acknowledge her humanitarian work, it made it sound like she was replacing one addiction with another.  Replacing heroin with charity work... replacing men with kids...

Again, I'm judging the book, not the woman, but the book kinda left a bad taste in my mouth.  Even if all this stuff is true (and I'm not denying it cause I don't know) there has got to be something good about this woman.  The author seemed to not like her much and by the time I hit page 275, I didn't like her either.  I bailed when it got to the Brangelina stuff.  The author made it very clear she was just "wrecking another home" so to speak. 

I'd like to hear her side of the story too.

Two stars.  This was a library book.

The Girls of Murder City by Douglas Perry

In Chicago, 1924, illegal booze was all the rave, jazz music played into the wee hours of the night, and the number of killings committed by women had jumped 400 percent in the last forty years... And no, I'm not saying there is a connection. I can drink some wine and listen to some jazz tunes and I don't shoot my husband dead..

These women did tho. And the press was on them like white on rice. Back then, woman killers were glamorous. They would look thru the cell bars with their big innocent eyes and when appearing in court, the proper hats and furs usually got them acquitted in no time. This book tells their tales in a fascinating and surprisingly, non biographical way. It wasn't boring as you would expect most nonfiction books to be. Douglas Perry has told these women's stories in such a way that I could literally picture the things happening in and out of Merry Murderess' Row.


First up: The one woman in this book who is NOT a killer, but a reporter. Maurine Watkins.

She waltzed into the Chicago Tribune (and this is a time in which women reporters were deemed inadequate and editors claimed they couldn't depend on the "variable feminine mechanism" with no reporter or crime writing experience whatsoever and asked for a job. She got it and with it, the women's murder trials of the century. Maurine wasn't fooled by these women either. She told it like she seen it and with a sense of humor as well.

Dr Springer, she wrote, "identified the gin bottle which was found lying on the floor of the car. Belva's jury, selected for their lack of prejudice in favor of the Volstead act, pepped up a bit at sight of this, and Belva herself leaned forward. But it was empty."

An interesting woman tho she didn't fascinate me as much as the killers themselves. (Wonder what that says about me?) She wasn't as traditional a Catholic girl as she was supposed to be. Despite the fact she wore her skirts and hair in a traditional way, her thoughts were not traditional. She had a love of gangsters and how they put their women on pedestals and was quoted as saying, "Gunmen are just divine. My idea of something pleasant is to be surrounded by gunmen." She was also deemed so beautiful that her male co workers were distracted to the point that the editor claimed he would hire no more women.

After following the Chicago lady killers and interviewing them incessantly, Maurine turned to screenwriting and wrote the famous play turned musical, "Chicago", based on the following real life murderess'.

Now, our first lady killer: Beulah Annan. (AKA Roxie Hart) This role was most recently played by Renee Zellweger.

Looks innocent, huh? Not so! Beulah didn't shoot her husband. She cuckholded her husband. She shot her lover dead and danced around his body for an hour. Upon going to jail, her story changed numerous times, ending with a claim of pregnancy and "we both reached for the gun." Her beauty and her big eyes got her an acquittal. She even had some say so in the jury selection for her trial. She would nod her head at her attorney if she liked a potential juror or pout a "no." After all, in Chicago 1924 no beautiful white woman had been convicted of murder yet. Maurine is quoted as saying that for women, "Chicago is the ideal locale for getting away with murder."

Upon her acquittal, Beulah immediately divorced her husband for being "too slow" for her.

Our second lady killer and my personal favorite partly because she has cojones and partly for her fabulous quotes, Belva Gaertner. (AKA Velma Kelly) This role was recently played by Catherine Zeta Jones.

In "Chicago," Velma shot her husband and her twin sister. In real life, twice divorced cabaret dancer, Belva shot her car salesman boyfriend in her Nash. This was a woman who fondled her gun at her vanity in the morning and said, "Gin and guns - either one is bad enough, but together they get you in a dickens of a mess, don't they?"

In Belva's case, her rich ex husband, her furs, and her regal bearing got her an acquittal so her "dickens of a mess" only last a few months. She did provide some great quotes during her jail time tho.

"I hope they won't put me to work. I hate to work." LMAO!!!

"No woman can love a man enough to kill him. They aren't worth it, because there are always plenty more." (She claims to have killed her lover not because of love, but a coin toss game.)

Another woman killer with a role in this book that interested me is Sabella Nitti. She didn't make it into the musical version, (at least it wasn't a memorable role if she did) but her story needs to be heard all the same.

In a time when no woman had yet been convicted of murder, Sabella Nitti was the first. Why? She was branded "grotesque foreigner," spoke no English, was an Italian immigrant and poor farmer. She did not even realize that her own son betrayed her, did not understand she was convicted even. The crime: having her boyfriend kill her husband and disposing of his body. Due to her poor appearance and her broken English, she got poor representation and was awaiting hanging when Beulah and Belva joined her in Cook County Jail. Their frienship (Belva offered fashion tips and gave comportment lessons) and a young Italian woman lawyer, Helen Cirese are credited with finally getting Sabella "off the hook."

Not to be outdone, other female inmates of the Cook County Jail have stories brought to light in this as well. Perry briefly touches on both Wanda Stopa, a Polish lawyer turned bohemian murderess and Katherine Malm. Stopa had some issues and the night before attempting to shoot her lover's wife (but hitting a household employee instead), threw all her jewelry at people into a crowded party, ranting and raving all the while. At her funeral, a mother and child got slapped repeatedly by Stopa's family members. Katherine Malm was a ganster's girlfriend taking the rap for her man. Or did she commit the crime?

I loved this book. Of course, I'm a huge fan of non traditional women and I have watched the movie probably 15 times. My love of the latest musical is what led me to request and receive this from Viking Press. I also have the soundtrack. In conclusion, I must say, read the book and form your own opinions.

Did the fellows have it coming?

Did they have only themselves to blame?

If you'd have been there...

If you'd have seen it...

Would YOU have done the same?

Perhaps he would have ran into your knife ten times? (evil laugh)

Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone by Martha Ackmann

Tho born as Marcenia Stone, by the time she was fourteen, this woman was known as Tomboy Stone. Why? She loved to run and play baseball. In the 1930s, this was unusual behavior for a girl. Her parents even frowned upon Tomboy's extracuricular activities. Tomboy was on the verge of running away from home when the local priest realized her potential and convinced her parents to allow her to play on the church baseball team. This was only the beginning...

As a young woman later in life, Tomboy armed herself with a 25 cent baseball glove from Goodwill and a pair of shoes that were a gift from Evard "Gabby" Street and after traveling for a while with a barnstorming team, she hit San Francisco and reinvented herself. Toni Stone was born. Toni Stone went from barnstorming teams to semi pro teams to the pro Negro League. She played on the SF Sea Lions, the New Orleans Creoles, and the Indianapolis Clowns and other teams. She propped open the door for other women to enter, women like Mamie Johnson and Connie Morgan.

Immersed with Toni's story is background information on what was going on in the Civil Rights movement at that time. It's important to remember that Toni Stone was not only in the fight for women's rights and equality, but also for African Amercian rights. During this time, lynching still occurred and hate ran rampant, especially in the "Jim Crow" south as they refer to it. And Toni's teams had to play ball in some of these places. Toni Stone had to straighten her shoulders, put her chin up, and while hitting, catching, and at one point even being knocked out by a ball, she had to face hateful white crowds and listen to insults hurled her way. Discrimination did not stop with racist or chauvinistic crowds tho. Toni also faced harassment from her own teammates and at one point, even had to take a baseball bat to fellow team member's head to stop his sexual remarks. This gal did not turn tail and head home to make her husband biscuits that's for sure.

Other African American baseball pioneers are honored in this book, including Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige.

Toni with Joe Louis

This is a very good read and more entertaining than most biographies. There was too much detail about other people tho, and not just people involved in baseball. Example: Louis Armstrong and the Zulu parade. I couldn't care less. Also, the book focuses on other baseball players quite often. Whereas I wasn't interested in some of these players, I think baseball fanatics will be overjoyed with the details. There were simply some parts that are more for "lovers of the game." This reader has no real interest in baseball, just strong women in history.

Toni Stone was involved with baseball in some way until she turned 65. She was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. She passed away in 1996.

I received this book from the publisher. I am not being reimbursed for my review. I just received a book that I requested upon discovering it on Shelf Awareness. The subject matter intrigued me enough that I HAD TO READ IT. So, thank you, Lawrence Hill Books.

Stars of the Sky, Legends All by Ann Lewis Cooper, ill by Sharon Rajnus

On a recent trip to one of my favorite places to go, the aircraft museum, I found this book in the gift shop. The cover pretty much sums it up so well, (Illustrated histories of women aviation pioneers) there is no need for me to summarize it. Instead, I am going to take this opportunity to post some of my favorite tidbits of information and my favorite women aviatiors in this book. I'm sure a lot of you will find these women as fascinating and amazing as I have.

First up for a shout out from me is Gerladine Mock.

She succeeded where Amelia Earhart failed and became the very first woman to fly solo around the world and cross both major oceans. This amazing feat was accomplished in 1964, 26 years after Amelia and Fred diappeared.
The second lady aviation pioneer to grab my attention in this book is Willa Beatrice Brown.

Willa was the first black woman to be an officer in the Civil Air Partrol, co founder of the National Airmen's Association of America, and the co owner of the Coffey School of Aeronautics where she was a flight instructor. In a time in which flight schools were predominantly white, Willa lobbied tirelessly to give African Americans the aviation opportunities they deserved and desired. Many of her graduates became participants in the Tuskegee Experiement and this led to the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. The Tuskegee Airmen was an all African American unit.
Another African American woman of note that overcame numerous odds and bigotry: Janet Harmon Bragg.
She was the first black woman pilot to earn a Commercial Certificate. With the outbreak of World War II, Janet applied to the WASP but upon showing up for her interview, her application was declined because of the color of her skin. This was a sad say for African American women everywhere and the WASP lost many a good woman pilot due to this bigotry. This amazing woman, however, did not let this setback deter her and turned around and offered her skills as a nurse. When this attempt was also barred, Janet fought and fly until obtaining her commercial pilot's license, a major accomplishment for both women and African Americans. She very well may also have been the first black woman in the nation to purchase an aircraft.
Also of note, and not for her flying skills, but for her generous funding and support of the early aviation industry: Mabel Hubbard Bell, the wife of Alexander Graham Bell.
This woman was deaf and unable to use her husband's invention of the telephone, but she refused to be handicapped. She suggested and funded the Aerial Experiment Association and her generosity helped the Silver Dart take flight in 1909. This was the first flight by a British subject of a heavier than air, powered, controlled aircraft in Canada. The saddest thing is that Mable was unable to hear the passing aircraft she helped to create.

Commander Trish Bechman was the first woman to qualify as a naval flight officer in the F-15E and the F/A-18D.

She fought a two year battle for the right to fly in the above mentioned aircraft, a battle she finally won in 1992. Thanks her, women could officially begin training in combat aircraft in 1993.

And the last woman I want to give a huge thumbs up to is Major Nicole Malachowski, a terrific role model for young girls today.

Nicole was the first woman pilot selected to fly with the elite Air Force Thunderbirds in 2006. No other woman before her has ever flown with a military demonstration team, but thanks to Nicole, the door is now open. I also want to note that she flies the amazing, powerful, and at the moment in my personal opinion, the greatest aircraft in military service, the F-16 Fighting Falcon. (I very well may have at some point, repaired one her wings so I admit to some bias here...)

And I gotta end this on a bit of a negative note... a MAJOR THUMBS DOWN....

to Milo Burcham who said, "Women have no place in aviation." Hmph. Is that right? Well, Mr. Burcham, I think we have proved you wrong.