St. Pete Beach

Lance and I are on our way to St. Pete Beach for the weekend. Women's page legend Dorothy Jurney's brother, Richard Misener, was the mayor of St. Pete many years ago. He owned a big boat on the beach. Many Miami women's page journalists would meet with Dorothy and go sailing.

I'm hoping to visit an archive while we're there.

Vivian Castleberry documentary available

The documentary about Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry is available online. (The DVD quickly sold out and is on reorder.) It turned out very well.

Here is a link to it - it's about 30 minutes long. Vivian is the third on the list of Texas Trailblazers.

Lance and I just watched the movie, The Hoax, about the fake biography of Howard Hughes. The story reminded me of Las Vegas Sun journalist Ruthe Deskin. (Initially, she was a women’s page editor in Reno, Nevada.)



In 1954, Ruthe Deskin was president of the Las Vegas Press Club. She was supervising the rehearsal of a skit for organization’s event at the Branding Iron Club. While there, Howard Hughes, along with some giggling young women arrived to watch. Ruthe got tired of the noise and told someone to tell the group to leave. No one wanted to speak to Hughes so she took the job on herself. According to her oral history with NPR affiliate KNPR, she said, “I don’t care who she is. He has no right to be here.” (pg 42) Ruthe was not impressed nor afraid of Las Vegas celebrity.

My article about Ruthe has been accepted by a state history journal and should come sometime this year.

1968 Democratic National Convention/Police Riots

Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune published a story about the reunion for the 1968 Democratic National Convention/Police Riots.



Los Angeles Times women's page editor Maggie Savoy (shown above speaking at the University of Missouri in the 1960s) was gassed at the riots. She was in Chicago to cover the "women's angle" of the Convention. This event was mentioned in Jim Bellows' book, The Last Editor.

My article about Maggie ran in California History this past Spring.

New Carol Sutton image

I just found this new image of Kentucky women's page editor and M.E. Carol Sutton. It can be found on the site of the League of Women Voters of Louisville. I'm pleased that there is also a link on the site to this blog.

I received emails from both of Carol's daughters this summer. Not too many women's page editors had children so it's nice to have a chance to hear more about "mom."

My article about Carol is scheduled to come out next year.

Texas A & M and Vivian Castleberry

Yesterday it was announced that Elsa A. Murano, the first female president of Texas A & M, was stepping down. Here is the NYT article about it.

It was a reminder of how far Texas A & M has come - after all, women were not fully accepted as students until 1971. Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry oversaw the women's section of the student newspaper at Texas A & M while her husband Curtis was going to school there in the 1950s. Vivian worked for the newspaper because, at the time, the university did not accept women. In fact, when Vivian spoke to the president, he told her the school would never accept women as students.



This is a photo of Vivian working at the Texas A & M newspaper. It can be found in the online history project, Intended for All.

My article on Vivian was published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

I am currently working on a book about Vivian and her amazing career. Here are more posts about Vivian.

Moving

We are almost done moving into our new house. While there has been a lot of unpacking, I have been thinking of Florida women's page editor Beverley Brink Morales for perspective. (She worked for the Miami Herald and the Sun-Sentinel in the 1960s. She won two Penney-Missouri Awards while at the Sun-Sentinel.)



Beverley was born and raised in Montana. After college, she moved to Iowa and then on to Mexico City. She then relocated to Miami and Dayton, Ohio, before moving back to Montana.

After several years in her native state, she moved onto Alaska where she lived for several years before she died.

I figure if Beverley went through that much moving across the country, I should not complain about moving to another part of the same community.

Currently, I am collecting the many parts of Beverley's story.

It's going to be a baby boy

We learned yesterday that I am having a baby boy. His name will be Curtis James. He will be named for the husbands of two great women's page editors: Curtis Castleberry (married to Vivian Castleberry) and James Bellows (married to Maggie Savoy).



This is a photo with Vivian and Curtis. Lance and I stayed with them last summer for a few days in Dallas.


This is a photo of Jim who I interviewed a few years ago. Jim (a great editor in his own right) died a few months ago - I learned about his death while I was in Dallas being interviewed for a documentary about Vivian Castleberry.

Dr. Maurine Beasley

I was just reading the AJHA oral history with Maurine Beasley. It's in the fall 2008 issue of American Journalism, pages 102-115.

Maurine Beasley was the one who introduced me to the wonderful world of women's page editors.

Ben Stein mentions Jim Bellows

Watch CBS Videos Online

Ben Stein talks about great editor Jim Bellows on the CBS Sunday Morning program. Jim was a hero of many in journalism, especially women's page editors. (He was married to wonderful women's page editor Maggie Savoy.) Lance and I are working on an article about Jim.

James Beard House

Here is a tour of James Beard's house. Miami Herald and Los Angeles Times food journalist Jeanne Voltz was a friend of Beard and often cooked for him. (Jeanne was a journalist who used her reporting skills to become a great food writer after getting her start under women's page journalist Dorothy Jurney.)

I am working a biographical article about Beard for the book, Icons of American Cooking. He was an amazing man with respect for food sections that started in the women's pages.

Jeanne Voltz and BBQ

Lance is BBQing his way through the Jeanne Voltz book: Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts and Other Great Feeds. Food great James Beard wrote of it: "Jeanne Voltz has written a definitive book on barbecuing."



Jeanne started her food journalism career in the 1950s women's section of the Miami Herald, working for Dorothy Jurney. I am working on a biography chapter of Jeanne and her work at the Los Angeles Times for a book about culinary history.

Helen Muir letter

I am working on collecting information on Miami News women's page journalist (and Miami library legend) Helen Muir. She was a friend of many in the Miami women's page community - especially Dorothy Jurney and Marie Anderson.

This 1972 letter, concerning the growing hippy problem in Miami, can be found in Helen's papers at the University of Miami.



We hope to go through Helen's paper sometime this month.

Our baby & baby books

With a baby on the way, I have been reading women's page and then women's magazine writer Joan Younger's The Stork and You. She wrote the book after she had her daughter Rosalind.

The book is much like the popular book What to Expect When You Are Expecting - only written decades earlier. JYD was well ahead of her time.



I went through the papers of JYD at the University of Wyoming and am writing am writing an article about her.