By Louisa Loveridge Gallas
Harriet Quimby (1875-1912) accomplished the soul of the following quote, often attributed to Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is (already) taken.” Beyond her own path and distinctive individuality, she encouraged that dream for all of us.
Her fame as a rare woman pilot and pioneer in aviation was my first knowledge of Quimby’s talent and courage. A deep dive into research led me to find her early passion, sustained until her death, was as a writer and investigative journalist.
In Don Dahler’s biography of Quimby titled, “Fearless: Harriet Quimby, A Life Without Limit” (Princeton Architectural Press, June 2022), the author wrote: “She discovered in herself a passion and ability that would eventually lift her to breathtaking heights … a natural born literary mason. She would build her own future on her ability to pave a path of words toward new adventures ….”
Author Leslie Kerr (“Harriet Quimby: Flying Fair Lady”, Schiffer Military, 2016) reviewed biographical documents in which Quimby’s occupation was entered as “Special Writer.” As a journalist, Quimby’s research during an investigation into New York City’s police force helped bring down the commissioner, exposing issues of prostitution in the U.S. Her ambitions, not only for personal fame, propelled her advocacy for others. She left us abundant articles, including those written as a drama critic, screen writer and playwright. Many of her writings focused on social and cultural inequities of poverty, working conditions and discriminatory laws. Even the rights of birds! In “Flying Fair Lady”, Kerr related that Quimby ⸺ appalled at the abuse of wrens, thrushes and egret mothers killed to decorate women’s hats ⸺ wrote a protest article in Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly. In it, she urged readers to contact their legislators, resulting in a protective law to ban hunting birds solely to use their plumage as fashion statements.
Poet Mary Oliver said, “Attention is a form of prayer” to discover and cherish our world. To be fully present. Quimby was a genius at paying attention, with a range of styles and curiosity. Venturing unescorted into San Francisco’s Chinatown, she was intrigued by a penniless old man who was somehow finding ways to feed stray cats. In “Fearless” Dahler included this quote from her story, in which she shared these touching details of the old man’s belief in reincarnation. “Maybe they (the cats) are my grandfather, my brother, or my uncle.”
She reveals generosity with a sensitive heart, as in this reflection: “No matter how homely the exterior, a pure soul will so light up a personality that the plain personal appearance will be obliterated in its radiance.”
One feels her ease in a witty turn of phrase, the choice of just the right word, in passages from Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly. As a drama critic, Quimby wrote: “The Production of ‘The Foolish Virgin’ falls flat as an overdone omelet souffle.” In her social commentary, she ventured: “…almost any woman may tinker about the machinery and accomplish about the same results … as the opposite sex does. If she will only lose that dread of getting her hands all greasy and grimy.”
At breakneck speed, Harriet Quimby lived her brief time in many dimensions, hoping for fame. “I only wanted to be first, that’s all,” she wrote in Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly (1906). But she shared a larger vision in the New York Times (1912): “I would never give up my work for flying.”
On the immortal wings of words, Quimby flew beyond boundaries and influenced social and legal justice. She continued flying, despite her extreme disappointment that newspapers of the day buried on their back pages, behind the Titanic catastrophe, her achievement of being the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. She wrote articles about the dangers of flying. She knew the risks.
In “Fearless” Dahler included this Quimby remark: “If bad luck befall me, I want you to know that I will meet my fate rejoicing.” It is poignant that the aviator-journalist, who flew in several dangerous air shows, wished to retire soon after the show that claimed her life, to be able to add writing novels to her repertoire.
Harriet Quimby illuminated early 1900s America.
A Comet.
A Shooting Star.
Her Words: An Enduring Constellation.
Imagine one evening during Arcadia Daze, before fireworks blaze across the sky. A small biplane overhead, as in festivals of yore, trails a banner that simply reads: HARRIET.
Author Dahler’s thoughts on Quimby’s career as a journalist
Louisa Loveridge Gallas asked author Don Dahler (“Fearless: Harriet Quimby, A Life Without Limit”) about his impressions of Quimby as a writer. (Dahler is scheduled to appear at Arcadia Daze, 1-3 p.m. on Sat. 7/22.) His emailed response, below, is edited for brevity.
I think Harriet’s talents as a reporter and writer have definitely been overshadowed by her other achievements. After reading the 200+ articles she produced during her short career I was struck by her grasp of language and description, and her keen awareness of the little things people do that define their character. One example is from one of her earliest articles about a trip with commercial fishermen, when she notes the man in charge of collecting the dock fees often helped out workers financially whose nets came up less-than-full.
She was witty and clever and often self-deprecating in her first-person accounts, like the hilarious story about riding in a race car at over 100 miles per hour and losing her hat in the process. This ability to draw readers into her … life (and others’ lives) is all the more remarkable given her limited formal education. The time she spent in that one-room Michigan schoolhouse was impactful.
Honestly, reading her columns and articles made me respect and love her even more, and I feel a deep professional kinship to her style of writing, the telling of other people’s stories in a respectful yet revealing way.
… (S)he was obviously shaped by her years there (in Arcadia), but it was also obviously a very difficult time for her family, with the death of siblings and the constant toil and hardship. In my mind, you can take the girl out of Arcadia, but you can never take Arcadia out of the girl.
Louisa Loveridge Gallas is a retired therapist and published, award-winning poet, most recently winner of the 2022 Manistee County Library poetry contest. She is the author of several books, (The Bookstore, Frankfort), and will appear with other artists on Aug. 25, 4-6 p.m., at Patina in Onekama. www.louisalovegallas.com
