Retired
After many years of writing, I’m retiring and beginning a new chapter. While I’m stepping away from my work as an author, my books will remain available for purchase. I’m incredibly grateful to all the readers who have supported my work and made this writing journey so meaningful. Thank you for being part of it!
Becoming Elizabeth Arden:
The Woman Behind the Global Beauty Empire
Elizabeth Arden, a poor, uneducated immigrant with a deep passion for beauty and an ambition to match, created a global cosmetics empire and set the beauty standard for the twentieth century. She brought about a cultural revolution by making cosmetics first acceptable and then de rigueur for women of all backgrounds. An early believer in holistic beauty, Arden combined skin care with exercise and designed the first destination spa. Men derided her unorthodox business methods, but she became America’s wealthiest female entrepreneur and her many innovations in beauty and fashion are still with us today.
She began life in rural Canada as Florence Nightingale Graham before transforming herself into Elizabeth Arden, the inventor, innovator, and visionary CEO of the company she started in 1910 and ran until her death in 1966. Becoming Elizabeth Arden explains the fascinating life and the astounding business success of this rags-to-riches global businesswoman with a penchant for thoroughbred horses and a driving desire to make women beautiful.
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Juliette Gordon Low:
The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts
The Girl Scouts of the USA is the largest and most beloved organization for girls and women in the United States. In this exciting biography of its founder, Juliette Gordon Low, Stacy A. Cordery tells the story of the intrepid, charming, and idiosyncratic woman at its core. Juliette, or “Daisy,” as she was called, was born in Savannah on the eve of the Civil War to a brash and independent young mother and a deeply patriotic Rebel father. Growing up in post-war Georgia was a challenge for Daisy, who struggled to reconcile her training as a good Southern belle with her desire to run barefoot through the fields. Known fondly to her family as “Crazy Daisy,” it was no surprise when Juliette eventually fell in love with the dashing, aristocratic, and slightly dangerous Willy Low. Nor was it a surprise that their marriage failed. Daisy’s frequent illnesses—including her hearing impairment—and Willy’s fondness for racing and gambling took a toll on their relationship. Once Willy publicly took up with another woman Daisy tried to free herself in a very messy and fraught divorce. He died before it was finalized, leaving her widowed and wealthy, but wounded.
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Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth,
from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker
Alice Roosevelt Longworth occupied center stage in the political and social life of the nation for seventy years. This marvelous biography rests on the discovery of an enormous collection of privately held and previously unknown letters, scrapbooks, diaries, speeches, and photographs belonging to Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
Thanks to the generosity of her family members, Alice is the first book to delve beyond the well-known witticisms and consider the breadth of Alice Longworth’s passions. Alice explores the multidimensional woman whose intelligence and charm brought politicians, authors, scientists and civil servants together around her table.
Her fame began as the twentieth century opened when she swept into the White House as the fabulous and sophisticated First Daughter. Americans copied her dress and actions, named babies after her, and gathered in crowds wherever she went.
In 1906, the nation celebrated her storybook wedding to Ohio congressman Nicholas Longworth. By 1912, Alice Roosevelt Longworth had become a sounding board for her father’s third-party presidential bid as Theodore Roosevelt tried to recapture the presidency—which would have made her First Daughter again. That attempt failed, but Alice learned to love the political game, even as her politician husband turned his attentions to other women.
Leading the successful charge to defeat the League of Nations in the Wilson era, Alice fell in love with Senator William Borah and the two powerful figures carried on a lengthy affair. Unalterably opposed to the policies of her cousins Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Alice spent the New Deal years publicly criticizing them and solidifying both her position as the Republican Roosevelt and the capital city’s greatest wit.
Her famous salon bridged Washington’s two worlds and “Mrs. L” was everyone’s favorite dinner partner—including John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Alice explains how the shy and private woman and her intellectual interests captured America’s imagination and earned her the nickname “the other Washington monument.”
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Theodore Roosevelt:
In the Vanguard of the Modern
Theodore Roosevelt exerted profound influence on the lives and minds of Americans. In this, the fifth volume of the Creators of the American Mind series, Stacy Cordery creates an engaging biography of this influential president by presenting the copious writings and discussing the short- and long-term impact of Theodore Roosevelt’s actions. Praised for its fair and thorough coverage, this text is perfect for use as a core or supplementary text in university classrooms.
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Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt
“It is impossible to win the great prizes of life without running risks, and the greatest of all prizes are those connected with the home. No father and mother can hope to escape sorrow and anxiety, and there are dreadful moments when death comes very near those we love, even if for the time being it passes by. But life is a great adventure, and the worst of all fears is the fear of living.” —Theodore Roosevelt, from his autobiography.
Following the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt charged into the limelight and the twentieth century as the 26th president of the United States. Charismatic, fiercely energetic, and adored by Americans everywhere, TR would champion a host of causes to bring the nation into the new century brimming with optimism and onto the international scene as a world power.
From his earliest days as a youth in New York City to his declining years during World War I, Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt captures the greatest exploits of one of the nation’s greatest Americans. As soldier and explorer, as conservationist and big game hunter, as governor, vice-president, and president, as scientist and writer, and as family man, TR s life in pictures blazes a path sure to enthrall every reader, from the student of history to the history buff.
TR became and remains an American icon. The hundreds of photographs in Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt, many of them rare and unusual, and all published in striking black and white, help Americans a hundred years later to understand why.