When I launched She-Explores.com, I wrote, “she isn’t me,” and that statement is still true today. In completing this book, I have to acknowledge the hundreds of women who have contributed their writing, photography, artwork, and voices to She-Explores.com, our social media handles, our podcasts, and this book. Some early contributors come to mind: Alison Turner, Kit Whistler, Brooke Weeber, Kat Carney, Charley Zheng, Kristen Blanton, and Madison Perrins, among many others; thank you for the willingness to trust your work and words on an unknown platform.
In the past four years, I’ve had countless advocates, collaborators, and mentors. I’m hugely grateful to Liz Song Mandell for our long conversations, Jeanine Pesce for sharing her knowledge, Jessie Davis and Julie Hotz for collaborating on a film project, Ashlee Langholz for helping said film come to life, and Steve Wilson for encouraging me to start a podcast. Thank you to Sara Murphy and Sydney Halle for their consistent support. Thanks to Sarah Menzies and Anna Brones for their good humor and ridiculous text message chains. Thank you to Laura Hughes, Hailey Hirst, Stephanie Wright, Leslie Schipper, Dani Opal, Korrin Bishop, and Jaymie Shearer for dedicating their time and creative energy over the years.
Thank you to the team at Chronicle Books, especially my editor Rachel Hiles, for her excitement about this project and her keen eye for detail.
Thank you to my parents, Mary and Tom Straub, for cultivating a quiet curiosity in all things. Thank you to my aunt, Katie Matthews, for the potential she finds in abstractions. Thank you to my brother, Matt Straub, and his family, who help me look at the bright side. And of the many no longer with us: Rosemary Kelleher (“Grammar”) and James Kelleher (“Uncle Jim”): the former for teaching me to not just get lost in novels, but to analyze them; the latter for knowing that historical landmarks are best paired with ice cream cones.
Thank you to Jon Gaffney for always being up for a brainstorm, road trip, plane flight, or night in playing cribbage. Life is more fun with you.
And thank you to my twister (twin sister), Lora Straub, for lending her enviable editing skills to this work, her unconditional friendship, and for being my very first tentmate.