What do entertainer Madonna and city planner Louise Lathrup Kelley have in common? Both are featured in Christine Blackwell’s book, “Remarkable Women of Oakland County,” slated to come out this fall.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, Oakland County spoke with the author about documenting the pioneering women, past and present, whose accomplishments shape our county’s arts, government, education, businesses and more.
Where did you grow up? Where did you graduate from?
I was born in Detroit and attended parochial and public schools there until age 12. My family then moved to Livonia, where I graduated from Bentley High School. Soon after that, we moved to Bloomfield Hills. I went on to receive a B.S. degree in humanities, magna cum laude, with concentrations in English and architecture, from Lawrence Tech University (LTU), as well as master’s degrees in journalism and creative writing from Michigan State University and the University of Glasgow, respectively.
How long have you been a writer?
I have been a writer and editor for most of my adult working life. I cannot separate the two activities involved with each because I’ve always done both as part of my job. However, I decided many years ago, while I was still a student at LTU, that a career in book publishing was my ultimate goal. Following my graduation from LTU, I worked for two years as an assistant editor and writer at ACI, now in Farmington Hills. After that, I worked for two years at “The Oakland Press” creating ad layouts.
Once I earned my master‘s degree in journalism, I moved to New York to see if I could break into book publishing, and I was hired by Harcourt Brace, where I worked for 30 years. The company later merged with Houghton Mifflin, where I worked as an editorial director of reading, literature, writing, and art books until l retired. I also did plenty of ghostwriting, rewriting, and editing. Once I moved back to Oakland County to be closer to family, I began writing my own books.
What inspired you to write “Remarkable Women of Oakland County”?
I was impressed in 2014 when Mary Barra became the first female CEO of GM. I read about her background, learning that she grew up in Waterford Township. I also knew that Madonna grew up in Rochester Hills. Over time, I noticed that many more high-achieving women have connections to Oakland County, yet not much has been published about them. I thought it would be a shame if some of their histories were never recorded, so I began looking into writing a book.
How did you decide who to put in the book? Are you writing a sequel?
Each woman I included had to have an obvious tie to Oakland County as well as a notable achievement. I created 12 categories, which became chapters. I also wanted to make sure I progressed somewhat chronologically through the book, so I included the history of women from the early 1800s to the present.
I started with a list that included the most obvious and most famous women in Oakland County’s past, such as Martha Baldwin of Birmingham. I also wanted to include a few living heroines whose achievements might inspire the newest generation of women. Additionally, I reviewed the demographics of Oakland County and tried to represent as many women as possible from the various backgrounds, nationalities, and cities within the county. However, I wrote this book during 2024, an election year, so I decided not to include any women still active in politics. Likewise, I avoided including religious leaders, because those alone could fill a whole book, although one or two women in my book revealed clear religious affiliations.
I am not writing a sequel. In fact, I am hoping that other women here will step forward to write and publish more about local women’s achievements. They might even get more specific, writing books that reflect their association with special groups or clubs.
Which woman from your book do you identify with the most?
One of the women who most amazed me was Louise Lathrup Kelley, who developed Lathrup Village. I had studied architecture as one of my two concentrations as an undergraduate, so I maintain an interest in architecture and city planning. Louise’s history shows us what one woman can do when she sets her mind to it. How many women can say they created a whole city from scratch and almost entirely on their own?
What is your research and writing process like?
I pretty much use the recursive stages of the writing process: prewriting (brainstorming, planning, research), drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. I begin with a topic that interests me, but I also consider whether I can identify an audience. Then, I brainstorm a list of names and information based on initial research. I will also check “the comps,” meaning any competition, such as books already published on that same topic. If I still want to pursue that topic, I will consider whether there are any gaps in the literature. No book had yet been published on this specific topic, so I decided to write it.
What was the most surprising thing you learned during your research?
There were two surprises. The first was that three-quarters of the women had been or were married and had children. I still don’t really know how so many women managed both successful full-time careers and children. However, a couple of the women in my book addressed the difficulty of trying to “do it all.”
The other revelation was that most of these women were successful because they had a specific passion or goal, they pursued relentlessly. I kept saying to myself, “Wow! That one really floored it, stepping on the gas and never looking back.” Each woman overcame obstacle after obstacle, getting right back up after stumbling, and continued working until she achieved her goal.
What were some challenges, and how did you overcome them?
I promised myself that I would research and write something each day to meet the deadline and word count set by my editor. I was simultaneously teaching English part-time, so I always had compositions to read and grade as well.
My editor informed me that I had to cut several biographies from the book, which frustrated me because I had wanted to include more, not fewer, women’s histories. I ended up with 39 biographies in the book, but there could have easily been three or four times as many.
What can readers hope to learn from this book?
They will learn a good bit of history about the remarkable women who have lived in Oakland County from the pioneer days to the present, as well as the work they did to make a better world for themselves, their families, their communities, and in some cases, the United States They will see women representing cities throughout Oakland County.
What advice can you give to budding writers or researchers?
Almost everyone I know has said they want to write and publish a book, yet very few people actually do so. I believe that everyone lives an interesting life and wants to share what they have experienced, but many never move on from the “dream of writing a book” to actually writing one. I say, write something every day, even if it’s just notes in a pocket notebook. The more you write, the easier writing will become. Over time your writing will turn into a habit, like brushing your teeth, and you will find you must do it or your day will seem incomplete.
What other books would you recommend for readers interested in women’s or local history?
My favorite book at the moment is a gift from a fellow local writer and friend. It’s titled, “Women Who Write Are Dangerous” by Stefan Bollman. Another book I would recommend is “The Heroine with 1,001 Faces” by Maria Tatar. For local information, any of our county’s libraries will have reference books that name specific women. These books include “Oakland County Book of History,” edited by Arthur A. Hagman, and “Focus: Michigan Women 1701-1977” by Fran Harris.
About the Author
Christine Blackwell is the author of “Bloomfield Hills: Home of Cranbrook” and “Remarkable Women of Oakland County,” published by Arcadia/The History Press, and she is a member of several historical societies, including the Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society and the Bloomfield Historical Society.
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