Feather Schwartz Foster, author of "LADIES: A Conjecture of Personalities" will discuss the old First Ladies between Martha Washington and Mamie Eisenhower at a meeting of the New Providence Woman's Club on March 1, 2006.
SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ – If you’ve ever wondered what the “old” First Ladies were like – the ones from Martha Washington through Mamie Eisenhower, then you’ll get an earful with “LADIES: A Conjecture of Personalities.” Its author, Feather Schwartz Foster, a New Jersey resident, will be discussing her book entitled “LADIES: A Conjecture of Personalities” at 7 PM Wednesday, March 1 at a meeting of the New Providence Woman’s Club at the United Methodist Church in New Providence. A book signing will follow.
According to the author, “Ladies: A Conjecture….” is a book of voices. In it, First Ladies between Martha Washington and Mamie Eisenhower tell their own stories – or, to be more exact, whatever they want – in their own words and in their own styles. It crosses boundaries between fact, conjecture and, most importantly, centuries. Through dialogue-boxes, the Ladies talk to each other across Eternity, where anything is possible. The Modern First Ladies, from Mrs. Kennedy through Mrs. Clinton participate in commentary. “The old gals talk to the reader and they talk amongst themselves. They talk about their husbands, and their children, and the White House, and the times they lived in. And, of course, politics. It’s not just the stories of their lives – it’s an opening into what they were like as people. They were definitely not the ‘non-entities’ that history usually calls them.”
In her book, “LADIES: A Conjecture of Personalities,” Foster allows First Ladies from Martha Washington through Mamie Eisenhower to “write” their own chapters, and everyone – including the modern FLs (Jacqueline Kennedy through Hillary Clinton) chime in with commentary. It is an entertainment, not a tome. “Of course ‘LADIES….’ Is a work of fiction,” says Foster. “After all, it is truly a conjecture of their personalities. But it is all based on the facts of their lives, the lives of their husbands and the times they lived in. Most biographies of First Ladies are dull – full of ‘almanac stuff.’ This books livens things up – especially when the Ladies cross the centuries through Eternity and talk to each other.”
Author Feather Schwartz Foster has been an “amateur” presidential historian for three decades. Following a long career in advertising and having written a score of children’s musical shows, she has decided to draw on her thousand-volume personal presidential library and her love of history by penning “LADIES: A Conjecture….” Her second novel, “Garfield’s Train” was recently published and deals with President James Garfield’s death in Long Branch, in 1881.
The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the author at www.featherfoster.com.
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