Kim Todd

A vivid social history that brings to light the "girl stunt reporters" of the Gilded Age who went undercover to expose corruption and abuse in America, and redefined what it meant to be a woman and a journalist--pioneers whose influence continues to be felt today. In the waning years of the nineteenth century, women across the United States went undercover, risking reputation and often their own safety--working in sewing factories to monitor conditions, fainting in the streets to test public hospital treatment, and infiltrating orphanages--to expose on the papers' front pages the often substandard conditions under which ordinary Americans lived and worked. Intrepid reporters whose in-depth narratives were published in weekly installments, these "girl stunt reporters" changed laws, helped launch a labor movement, championed women's rights, and redefined the role of journalism for the modern age. By 1900, more newspaper and magazine bylines belonged to women than by men. The newfound source of these sensational stories was a group of women journalists that flocked to city newspapers whose editors were searching for innovative writing to draw new readers in. Editors like Hearst and Pulitzer sought articles that reflected the many changes occurring in American society, exposing its ills and feeding its hopes. These journalists represented a new woman, an independent spirit moving from farms and small towns to big cities, finding jobs and living on their own. Yet the dramatic adventures the journalists undertook for the sake of their exposés often represented a freedom they didn't really have. After all, there were no laws protecting them from sexual harassment or marital rape, and they could not vote. Sure enough, within a decade, these trailblazers faced a public backlash for stepping outside the lines of feminine acceptability. Accused of practicing "yellow journalism," their popularity waned until they were finally stamped out by efforts to brand them as unworthy of public attention. But the influence of these women on the field of journalism would be felt across a century, from the Progressive Era "muckraking" of the 1900s to the personal "New Journalism" of the 1960s and '70s, to the "immersion journalism" and "creative nonfiction" of today. Bold and brave, these groundbreaking women changed how people would tell stories forever. Sensational features black-and-white photos throughout.

The Hidden History of America's Girl Stunt Reporters

Sensational

Traces the life and work of the pioneering seventeenth-century woman naturalist, discussing her unprecedented solo expedition to study insect metamorphosis in the New World and her role in the establishment of a new branch of biology.

Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis

Chrysalis

Heaven's Postcards is a true story of a family's devastating loss of a child and the amazing events that followed. Through a series of astonishing signs and miracles, God assured this family their son, Zach, was in heaven walking beside the Lord. This heartfelt story will influence the way you view your daily life and inspire you to embrace the comforting promise of life after death.

A Mother's True Story

Heaven's Postcards

"A gripping, flawlessly researched, and overdue portrait of America's trailblazing female journalists. Kim Todd has restored these long-forgotten mavericks to their rightful place in American history."--Abbott Kahler, author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy A vivid social history that brings to light the "girl stunt reporters" of the Gilded Age who went undercover to expose corruption and abuse in America, and redefined what it meant to be a woman and a journalist--pioneers whose influence continues to be felt today. In the waning years of the nineteenth century, women journalists across the United States risked reputation and their own safety to expose the hazardous conditions under which many Americans lived and worked. In various disguises, they stole into sewing factories to report on child labor, fainted in the streets to test public hospital treatment, posed as lobbyists to reveal corrupt politicians. Inventive writers whose in-depth narratives made headlines for weeks at a stretch, these "girl stunt reporters" changed laws, helped launch a labor movement, championed women's rights, and redefined journalism for the modern age. The 1880s and 1890s witnessed a revolution in journalism as publisher titans like Hearst and Pulitzer used weapons of innovation and scandal to battle it out for market share. As they sought new ways to draw readers in, they found their answer in young women flooding into cities to seek their fortunes. When Nellie Bly went undercover into Blackwell's Insane Asylum for Women and emerged with a scathing indictment of what she found there, the resulting sensation created opportunity for a whole new wave of writers. In a time of few jobs and few rights for women, here was a path to lives of excitement and meaning. After only a decade of headlines and fame, though, these trailblazers faced a vicious public backlash. Accused of practicing "yellow journalism," their popularity waned until "stunt reporter" became a badge of shame. But their influence on the field of journalism would arc across a century, from the Progressive Era "muckraking" of the 1900s to the personal "New Journalism" of the 1960s and '70s, to the "immersion journalism" and "creative nonfiction" of today. Bold and unconventional, these writers changed how people would tell stories forever.

A fascinating natural history of non-native species currently living and thriving in America focuses on the various experiments, most well-intentioned, that introduced many foriegn life forms to the continent. Reprint.

A Natural History of Exotic Species in America

Tinkering with Eden

Innocent. Invader. Lover. Thief. Sparrows are everywhere and wear many guises. Able to live in the Arctic and the desert, from Beijing to San Francisco, the house sparrow is the most ubiquitous wild bird in the world. They are the subject of elegies by Catullus and John Skelton and listed as “pretty things” in Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book—but they’re also urban vermin with shocking manners that were so reviled that Mao placed them on the list of Four Pests and ordered the Chinese people to kill them on sight. In Sparrow, award-winning science and natural history writer Kim Todd explores the bird's complex history, biology, and literary tradition. Todd describes the difference between Old World sparrows, like the house sparrow, which can nest in a garage or in an airport, and New World sparrows, which often stake their claim to remote islands or meadows in the high Sierra. In addition, she looks at the nineteenth-century Sparrow War in the United States—a battle over the sparrow’s introduction—which set the stage for decades of discussions of invasive species. She examines the ways in which sparrows have taught us about evolution and the shocking recent decline of house sparrows in cities globally—this disappearance of a bird that seemed hardwired for success remains an ornithological mystery. With lush illustrations, ranging from early woodcuts and illuminated manuscripts to contemporary wildlife photography, this is the first book-length exploration of the natural and cultural history of this beloved, reviled, and ubiquitous bird.

Kim Todd

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