Heloise | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eloise Bowles May 4, 1919 |
| Died | December 28, 1977 (aged 58) |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation(s) | Newspaper columnist, author |
Heloise Bowles Cruse (May 4, 1919 – December 28, 1977 [1] [2] [3]) was the original author of the popular syndicated newspaper column "Hints from Heloise." [2] [4] [5]
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, [1] [4] Bowles married Marshal (Mike) Holman Cruse, a United States Air Force captain [4] (later colonel) in 1946. Their daughter Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse, born in 1951, is the current "Heloise". [4]
Bowles Cruse had been exchanging hints with neighboring stay-at-home-wives. While at a party she mentioned her wish to start a newspaper column where housewives could share hints. A colonel with two degrees in journalism laughed and bet her $10 she couldn’t get a newspaper job, for she was "nothing but a housewife." The next day she went to the offices of the Honolulu Advertiser and convinced the editor to try her column on a 30-day, no-pay basis. [6]
The original column was first published as "Readers' Exchange" in 1959. [1] [4] In 1961, King Features syndicated it as "Hints from Heloise"; [4] nearly 600 newspapers carried the column, [1] and, at the time of her death, it was one of three most popular (in terms of syndication) in the United States. [2]
Her book Heloise's Housekeeping Hints, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., was, at half a million copies total, one of the top 10 selling hardcover books in 1963. The book later became the fastest selling paperback in the history of its publisher Pocket Books. [1]
Books
- Heloise's Housekeeping Hints (1962)
- Heloise's Kitchen Hints (1963)
- Heloise All Around the House (1965)
- Hints For Working Women (1966)
- Heloise's Work and Money Savers (1967)
References
- ^ a b c d e Heloise Bowles Dies at 58. Florence Times Daily. p. 27. Dec 29 1977.
- ^ a b c Heloise Bowles of 'Hints' column. St Petersburg Times, Dec 30, 1977. P. 11B
- ^ Heloise Bowles Cruise Find a grave entry
- ^ a b c d e f HELOISE BOWLES CRUSE—THE ORIGINAL HELOISE
- ^ Life Stories: Profiles from the New Yorker. David Remnick, editor. Modern Library. 2001.
- ^ Jarboe, Jan, Heloise: Armed and Ingenious, Chicago Tribune, May 14, 1989 (on-line version)