It has been a tremendous privilege writing the biography of Juliette Gordon Low. I have enjoyed every minute of the time I’ve spent talking with people about the Founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA. I am really looking forward to the publication of the paperback a few days from now and to the paperback book tour which will follow in early February. I hope my biography has helped Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts learn more about the contours of Daisy Low’s interesting life and how she and her organization fit into the larger tapestry of U.S. history.

Juliette Low loved new technologies and in her spirit, I embarked on the adventure of blogging while I completed the book. On 22 June 2010, I commenced by asking the question “Why This Blog?” There, in my first post, I wrote that “I hope this blog will be a chronicle of the writing process, a way to share discoveries with readers and to learn from your comments.” Two years and seven months later, the blog has done all that–and so much more. It would be difficult to convey how much I have appreciated the questions, the prodding, and the cheerleading from all of you who read and commented on my blog. I’ve said it before, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

My blog appeared on http://juliettegordonlow.blogspot.com until October 2011, when I moved it over to my new website, www.stacycordery.com. That was also the moment I stepped into the big world of Facebook. That has been an education! I will continue to post at my Stacy Cordery, Author Facebook page, where I can put photos from the book tour, news of good things happening in the world of Girl Scouting, and soon, news about my new book project.

Yes, it’s time for me to move on. I am a lifelong, card-carrying member of the GSUSA and a lifelong fan of Daisy Low–but I am also a professional writer and a college professor and it’s time to begin my fifth book.

What can you do to spread the word about Juliette Gordon Low, to help her take her rightful place in social studies and history textbooks? You can buy my book! Really–the sales of my biography will help pave the way for other authors and historians because their potential publishers will first ask how the sales (read: interest) were on my book. If Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts sells well, then publishers will perceive a reading audience out there and will be more likely to take a gamble on the next book about Low or Girl Scouts. If you don’t own a copy, please consider purchasing one, and then buy another to give to troop leaders, Council members, nursing homes, your local library–I would like every American to know all about Juliette Gordon Low.

You can read through my blog. I will leave it up and accessible through www.stacycordery.com. If you have questions, write and I’ll do my best to answer them.

You can get involved with your own Girl Scout Council. There will be a group of historians and archivists who surely could use your energy and time. Girl Scouting will take its rightful place in the history books once the raw data of Girl Scouting history–documents, photographs, diaries, account books, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, oral interviews–are preserved and made available to the public.

You can go see every Girl Scout exhibit out there. There’s almost certainly a group of dedicated and enthusiastic Girl Scouts behind it who are bubbling over with joy in the telling of their story. They need you (your troop,  your class of students, your church group, your book club) to be an audience.

You can visit the fabulous Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah, Georgia. It is an exceptional experience. Learn about Daisy and her world by walking in her footsteps, seeing her home, understanding her world from the inside out. While you are there, take time to thank the incredible docents and the hardworking, committed staff led by Fran Harold and Katherine Keena–two women who know everything there is to know about Daisy Low and who are thrilled to share it. While you are in Savannah, go see the Girl Scout First Headquarters and the Andrew Low House. And before you leave, consider helping the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace continue its good work by becoming a member of the Birthplace Circle of Friends, as I have.

It is a bittersweet moment for me–bringing this blog to a close. But, as Juliette herself reportedly said, “The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers.” I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to immerse myself in the life of Juliette Gordon Low, and to have met so many lovely women and men who share my passion. But my work on Daisy Low is now, well, the history of tomorrow. I hope it has/will prove helpful.

And since a Girl Scout is honest and fair…
Katherine Knapp Keena, I could not have written this book without your guidance, your patience, your wisdom. Your sense of humor buoyed me when I was sinking. Your support made all the difference, every day. You truly were the midwife for the biography. I remain so, so grateful. This public thanks is only a downpayment on my tremendous debt to you.

Fran Harold and Katherine Keena