Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
Hard-to-categorize posts
In the early 1900s, the most popular contraceptive douche was Lysol, formulated with cresol, a compound that caused inflammation, burning, even death. It was nevertheless aggressively marketed to women as safe and gentle for maintaining “dainty feminine allure.” By 1911 doctors had recorded 193 Lysol poisonings and five deaths from uterine irrigation. Read more about the hazards of women’s health care 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
During WWI, a prominent place for Navy recruitment posters was United Drugs (forerunner of Rexall). Here are two notable ones. See more posters in BEHIND THE STORY and read how they figure as an important plot element in On the Shore (NOVELS).
Four actors who played Munchkins in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz held commemorative placards after receiving a star on the Walk of Fame in 2007 in front of Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater. From the left they are Meinhardt Raabe, Clarence Swensen, Jerry Maren, and Karl Stover. Jerry Maren, the last surviving Munchkin, died in June 2018. Read more about Meinhardt Raabe, the other Munchkins, and the making of the movie in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
