Hick
The trailblazing journalist who captured Eleanor Roosevelt's heart
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- USD 9.99
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- USD 9.99
Descripción editorial
In this riveting YA non-fiction set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, trace Lorena Hickok--or Hick's-- rise from devastating childhood to renowned journalist, and watch as she forms the most significant friendship and romantic relationship of her life with first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.
Lorena Hickok came from nothing. She was on her own from the age of 14, cooking and scrubbing for one family after another as she struggled to finish school. But the girl who secretly longed for affection discovered she had a talent with words.
That talent allowed Hick to carve out a place for herself in the male-dominated newsrooms of the Midwest where she earned bylines on everything from football to opera to politics. By age 35 she’d become one of the Associated Press’s top reporters.
At the moment her career was taking off, Hick was assigned to cover Eleanor Roosevelt during FDR’s presidential campaign. By the close of 1932, Hick was head over heels in love with the wife of the president-elect. And her life would never be the same.
Acclaimed author Sarah Miller read the 3500 letters that exist between Lorena Hickock and Eleanor Roosevelt to reconstruct their friendship and love, and bring Hick's story to a new generation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Beginning on the eve of FDR's 1933 inauguration, Miller (Hanged!) presents a well-researched biography of reporter Lorena "Hick" Hickok (1893–1968), focusing particularly on her work as "just about the top gal reporter in the country" and her connection with activist and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962). Moving at a quick clip, a prologue explains how Hick didn't just break the glass ceiling of newspaper reporting in the 1920s and '30s—she shattered it. The first of four sections next rolls back to detail the subject's difficult childhood, including her raging father's constant abuse and her mother's sudden death, before moving forward into her adult life. On her own from her early teens, Hick goes into domestic service, studies journalism, then lands early reporting jobs before making a leap to the Associated Press, for which she interviews Roosevelt. Observational prose that dives into the bias-based limitations Hick faced as a woman reporter also unfurls the women's subsequent romantic relationship, which would continue for decades, hidden from the public until after their deaths. It's an extremely thorough recounting that's at its strongest when considering Hick as not just a female pioneer in the male-dominated news world but a passionate individual who chose to live, and love, on her own terms. Includes a note about terminology used. Ages 12–up.
