A Sea of Ink

On May 5, 1865 in Pennsylvania, a girl named Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born. She would become known, however, by a different name: Nellie Bly, a pen name which would soon be plastered across the front pages of newspapers from sea to shining sea. Cochran got her start in 1880 with an angry letter to the editor of The Pittsburgh Dispatch , arguing against traditional gender roles on the behalf of unmarried women in her society. She was daring, she was fierce, she was ambitious, and she was full of fire. Her passionate letter resulted in employment at the paper and Elizabeth's transformation into the reporter Nellie Bly. Nellie's first work was an article entitled "The Girl Puzzle," and then she was assigned to investigate the plight of girls working in factories. After this series of investigative articles, she was pushed to write for the "women's pages." Bly rejected this and instead undertook a six month foreign correspondence job, living in Mexico ...

Today marks the 88th anniversary of the birth of Audrey Hepburn, on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. She passed away on January 20, 1993. Audrey Hepburn to me is a beacon of inspirational light. She was not just a movie star: she lived through World War II, fighting the Nazis with the Dutch Resistance by carrying messages and putting on secret dance concerts in order to raise funds, and came close to starvation prior to liberation by the Allies. She gave up stardom in order to be the best mother she could; she put her family and other first, before her own agenda. She dedicated her final years to UNICEF, traveling to struggling countries such as Somalia to raise awareness of starving children's plight. She used the fame she was blessed with to do good and change her world. She was not traditionally beautiful, never thought she was attractive, and created a whole new genre of fashion for unconventional beauties. She remained humble while in the public eye, maintained a polite att...