Baby Boom Final Edits

I heard last night that the final edits on the ABC-Clio book Baby Boom have been completed. I wrote the chapter "Women" which includes information about Fort Lauderdale women's page editor Edee Greene.

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.

First knol entry/Roberta Applegate

I just published my first knol entry - about conducting archival research. It is available here:


I have demonstrated how I conducted my own archival research through the example of my work on women's page journalist Roberta Applegate. The below photo of her (her high school graduation picture) was given to me by her brother Albert.

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.