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Examining the life of a fearless and groundbreaking investigative reporter.
Nina Brown Baker’s book Nellie Bly, Reporter, captured my imagination when I was a girl. This dramatic account of Nellie’s adventures inspired the budding writer in me as much as Louise Fitzhugh’s novel, Harriet the Spy. I still have my Scholastic paperback edition of Baker’s book, and even though I now know that it’s full of factual errors, I cherish it as one of the volumes that set me on my career path.
I relished the prospect of digging deeper into Nellie Bly’s life, and I was not disappointed by what I found. Many of the articles she wrote were remarkable. Her investigative reports on female factory workers and the New York’s Women’s Lunatic Asylum, among other topics, are extraordinary for their depth and candor. Her profiles of the influential personalities of her day are unique because she approached her subjects with such disarming sincerity that they shared thoughts they usually kept to themselves. Susan B. Anthony, for example, went on record about everything from her regrets at having hit some of her students as a young teacher to her distaste for wedding vows that required women to promise to “obey” their husbands.
Nellie Bly helped open up the field of journalism for women, but she also ushered all reporters into an era when the power of the press could be harnessed to effect social change. With fierce determination and admirable skill, she communicated the struggles and challenges faced by her fellow citizens. Writing about her life confirmed what I suspected all those years ago. Nellie Bly is a worthy role model for aspiring writers and everyone else who hopes to make their mark on the world.
Links:
Buy Bylines from Amazon.com
Order an autographed copy.
Read Nellie Bly’s reporting from the Women’s Lunatic Asylum and from her
trip around the world.
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