This biography of Hope Ridings Miller, long-time Washington Post society editor, offers a heady insider's view of the capital's political and social swirl from the 1930s to the 1980s.... This well-documented, engaging, and loving tribute by a distant cousin does Miller justice and heralds another woman who quietly but effectively affected history * Booklist *
The best women reporters in Washington have always found unique ways to get their stories. This was especially true of society editor Hope Ridings Miller. Read about the rise of women in Journalism in this biography of a trailblazer. -- April Ryan, White House Correspondent-American Urban Radio Networks; CNN Analyst; author
At a time when people turned to newspaper society pages to find out what was really going on in the nation's capital, Hope Ridings Miller was there to tell them. In this meticulously researched book, Joseph Dalton traces his cousin's remarkable career as society editor for The Washington Post and observer of the power elite. Eleanor Roosevelt, Sam Rayburn, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Mary Pickford, Walt Disney, Jacqueline Kennedy, Pat Nixon and even the Hope diamond all make appearances in Washington's Golden Age, but the real star is Miller, who not only documented a rarified world of high society and politics but lived it. Beyond the glittering social scenes, Dalton offers a glimpse of a time when women were just beginning to make their way in the newspaper business, when reporters and the people they covered were often allies, and when the rules of the game called for civility and manners - and sometimes even white gloves. The result is a book that will be appreciated by anyone who loves history, journalism or simply a good story. -- Kristin Grady Gilger, Senior Associate Dean, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University
Joseph Dalton's Washington's Golden Age is a marvelous biography of the plugged-in reporter Hope Ridings Miller. The anecdotes told are dazzling and the research impressive. Highly recommended! -- Douglas Brinkley, historian and author
From state dinners to cocktail parties, social gatherings took on an air of ease and informality during the FDR administration. As society editor for the Washington Post, Hope Ridings Miller covered it all, including Eleanor Roosevelt's historic press conferences. Dalton's accomplished and engaging biography offers readers a vivid portrait of Washington in times of war and peace and highlights the increasingly important contribution of women journalists. -- Will Swift, author of The Roosevelts and the Royals and Dick & Pat: The Nixons, An Intimate Portrait of a Marriage
Hope Ridings Miller was a close confident of Sam Rayburn, the longest serving Speaker of the House in history. That's just one of the many connections to power and influence in Miller's remarkable life. Hers is a story that deserves telling and Joseph Dalton has done a fantastic job in describing the Washington that once was. -- Anthony Champagne, University of Dallas professor and author of Congressman Sam Rayburn
Washington's Golden Age: Hope Ridings Miller, the Society Beat, and the Rise of Women Journalists is an adventurous look back at a woman who outgrew her small-town Texas roots to become a nationally respected Washington personality . . . I have racked my brain for an appropriate summation of this wonderful book . . . Consider Washington's Golden Age this year's must-have stocking stuffer. * The Paris News *
This anecdote-laden biography portrays Miller's efforts to remain an impartial reporter despite her kinship with Washington's elite. Similarly, the well-researched chronicle of Miller's vocation is a passport to a genteel era when comparative civility and social graces prevailed in national politics and American culture. * CHOICE *
A delightful and informative read for journalism, diplomatic, and feminist studies students and politics buffs * Library Journal *
