Overview
"""America's Girl"" is an intimate look at the life and trials of Gertrude Ederle, who in 1926 not only became the first woman to swim across the English Channel, but broke the record set by men. The feat so thrilled America that it welcomed her home with a ticker tape parade that drew two million people. This fascinating portrait follows Ederle from her early days as a competitive swimmer through her gold medal triumph at the 1924 Olympics, to the first attempt the next year by Ederle to swim from France to England in frigid and turbulent waters, a feat that had been conquered by only five men up to that time. This is also a stirring look at the go-go era of the 1920s, when the country was about to recognize that women not only could vote, but compete on an international scale as athletes. At the height of Prohibition, Ederle's triumph over the formidable Channel was a triumph for women everywhere. ""America's Girl"" immerses readers in a pivotal era of American history and brings to life the spirit of that time."
Full Product Details
Author: Tim Dahlberg ,
Mary Ederle Ward ,
Brenda Greene
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Imprint: St Martin's Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.80cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.526kg
ISBN: 9780312382650
ISBN 10: 0312382650
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 04 August 2009
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability: In Print
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.
Reviews
<p>Praise for America’s Girl : <br> Dahlberg expertly depicts the flurry that surrounded Ederle’s feat and her homecoming. He chronicles the heavy coverage of her in newspapers, which regaled readers with such details as Ederle’s favorite soda-fountain treat (a strawberry marshmallow frappé) and the special affinity she showed for the bathtub as a child. The year of her record-setting swim, readers of Hearst newspapers voted Ederle their favorite athlete, ahead of home-run king Babe Ruth.... -- American Way Magazine <p> Drawing on Ederle’s extensive archive of more than 1,500 newspaper and magazine clippings, an unfinished memoir, and other background material, [ America ’s Girl] is the remarkable, captivating story of a woman who set almost impossible goals and accomplished most of them. -- Tucson Citizen <p> There was little overt drama or controversy in Ederle's life before or after her fame peaked, but the authors make up for that by providin
Author Information
"TIM DAHLBERG is a national sports columnist for ""The Associated Press. ""He has been a sports writer for more than twenty-five years. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. MARY EDERLE WARD is Gertrude Ederle's niece and her caretaker for the last twelve years of her life. Gertrude passed on to her an extensive archive of more than 1,500 newspaper clippings, magazine articles and other background materials on her life. BRENDA GREENE is an author of three books, an editor, and a writer."
