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How do you invent an Olympic sport? For Katharine Whitney Curtis, it took the right idea, great talent, some good timing, and the determination to make it happen. The originator of synchronized swimming as we know it today, she even wrote the first book on the subject in 1936. But there was much more to her life and career. After the start of World War II, Curtis became a recreational director in the American Red Cross and followed the troops wherever the course of war took them, serving under Generals Patton and Eisenhower, before becoming a director of travel for the U.S. Army in Europe during the Cold War. Unbound by fear or the narrow expectations of society, this was a woman who lived ahead of her time, making things happen along the way. As her first biography, this book generously features Curtis's own words, selected from more than 2,000 pages of letters, and contextualized by her surviving friends and family members.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
The First Diversion: Beauty (1897-1942)
¿1.¿Noble Diversions
¿2.¿Out of Madison
¿3.¿Making History
¿4.¿A Change of Plans
The Second Diversion: Hope (1942-1946)
¿5.¿She's Over There
¿6.¿Lifting Morale
¿7.¿Victory Lap
¿8.¿Loved and Lost
The Third Diversion: Harmony (1946-1980)
¿9.¿Rebuilding
10.¿Passing the Torch
11.¿A Rolling Stone
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Jordan Whitney-Wei is the great-grandnephew of Katharine Whitney Curtis. His previous writing and research focused on philosophy and poetry. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
