Fire on the Track
Page 27
Helen’s gender rumors and physical exam
Helen Stephens, Olympic Diary, July 15–September 16, 1936.
Women’s relay race; picks for the race; Betty’s role in the race; Tidye’s dismissal from the race
Helen Stephens, Olympic Diary, July 15–September 16, 1936; Helen Stephens Collection, State Historical Society of Missouri, folders 64 and 65; also folders 20, 37, 63, 114, 123, 125, 127, 128, 183, 185, 220, 232, 234, 236, 240, 245, 258, 261, 265, and 266; also folders related to Betty Robinson: 63, 109, 120, 128, 184, 221, 232, 234, 240, 242, 245–249, 254, and 263–267.
Ilse Dörffeldt’s blunder
Helen Stephens, Olympic Diary, July 15–September 16, 1936; Helen Stephens Collection, State Historical Society of Missouri, folders 64 and 65.
EPILOGUE
Betty returns home; Hollywood comes calling
Information on Betty’s short-lived Hollywood dreams comes from email correspondence with her son, Richard Schwartz, on March 10, 2016.
Betty marries and divorces, remarries
Betty had a two-week marriage with the glamour agent Eddie Napolilli, who was intent on making her famous in the movies. Information on this marriage and the subsequent annulment comes from email correspondence with her son, Richard Schwartz, on March 10, 2016. Betty met her second husband in a diner lounge. Their courtship was quick, and their marriage soon followed. Information on this private side of her life comes from email correspondence with Richard Schwartz on March 8, 2016.
Helen Stephens
Sharon Kinney Hanson, The Life of Helen Stephens: The Fulton Flash (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004); Helen Stephens Archives, William Woods University.
Stella Walsh
Information on Stella Walsh can be found in the Helen Stephens Collection, State Historical Society of Missouri, folders 63, 77, 120, 124, 125, 190, 217, 233–236, 240–242, 253, 258–261, 263, 266, and 267; also see the Western Reserve Historical Society Library, Research Center, Cleveland Ohio, Box 1, folders 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 16.
Babe Didrikson
On Babe’s life after the 1932 Olympics, her expulsion from the Games, and plans afterward, see Babe Didrikson Zaharias Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Mary and John Gray Library, Lamar University; also Susan E. Cayleff, Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROSEANNE MONTILLO is the author of two other works of nonfiction, The Lady and Her Monsters and The Wilderness of Ruin. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College, where she taught courses on the intersection of literature and history. She lives outside of Boston.
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