In Their Shoes: A White Woman's Journey Living as a Black, Navajo, and Mexican Illegal

Looking back over a long career, Texas-born journalist Halsell recalls her life story from her childhood on a ranch in West Texas to recent trips to Bosnia and Israel. She started her newspaper career in an era when the rare woman who was employed as a journalist was confined to covering social events. During WWII, when many male reporters were in uniform, Halsell was promoted to the police beat, where she met her future husband. But finding marriage unfulfilling, Halsell left Texas to travel abroad and focus on writing. Doing research for books, she darkened her skin to live as a black woman; she crossed the U.S.-Mexican border as an illegal alien; and, passing herself off as a member of the Navajo tribe, she worked as a domestic. In view of Halsell's credits as a professional writer, the writing here is surprisingly awkward. Mulling over her choice of a career, she writes: ""And why was this seed planted within me as what I wanted most in life to do? A desire rising no doubt from questions."" Halsell, whose journalistic credentials do not prevent her from disclosing her (Christian) faith, nor a clear anti-Israeli bias on her trips to Jerusalem. Halsell is author of some 12 books, detailing her various adventures. This memoir, which apparently draws from those earlier works, though not without interest, offers little by way of inspiration or useful information on the history of women in journalism. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)