American Cassandra: The Life of Dorothy Thompson

by Peter Kurth

Dorothy Thompson (1893-1961) was America’s first internationally famous female foreign correspondent. Born outside of Buffalo, New York, she graduated from Syracuse University in 1914 and honed her writing and interviewing skills in the women’s suffrage movement before heading for Europe as a freelance journalist.Reporting from Vienna, Budapest and Berlin during the rise of Nazism, she was the first western journalist to be expelled from Germany by Adolf Hitler after denigrating him in a profile. Her later columns in the Ladies’ Home Journal and radio broadcasts for CBS made her, next to Eleanor Roosevelt, the most influential woman in the United States.Thompson was married three her second marriage was to the American novelist, Nobel Prize-winner, and alcoholic Sinclair Lewis; her third and happiest, to Czech artist Maxim Kopf. She also had several lesbian relationships. Avidly interested in everything from sustainable farming to the fine arts, she divided her later years between New York City and her farm in Barnard, Vermont. (With 83 illustrations.)“A skillful exploration of the life and personality of the formidable foreign correspondent” — New York Times“Kurth guides us through the tumultuous complexities of the time-the rise of Nazism in Germany; isolationism in America; the Second World War; the establishment of Israel and other issues that Thompson took over as her personal battleground. His daunting task is to show us a mind at work, and he pulls it off.” — Washington Post“In a day of dime-a-dozen pundits jabbering on the talk shows, Thompson’s diligence and influence are worth recalling. Mr. Kurth’s compulsively readable account allows us to re-live an age and do just that.” — Wall Street Journal“Kurth has a surprising grasp of Thompson’s emotional makeup, strictly avoiding the kind of supercilious or paternalistic attitude that such a character invites in male authors. His biography is insightful without being sentimental, warm without being sycophantic.” — Toronto Star“An important asset of this big, solid book is author Kurth’s prolific use of Thompson’s own words. She left 150 file cases of published and unpublished writings — chunks of private thoughts and musings on her three husbands and her own sexuality one would have expected her to burn... Kurth has battled through this paper blizzard and emerged with a clear-as-ice-water picture of a turbulent, complex personality.” — Baltimore Sun“Peter Kurth, author of the haunting The Riddle of Anna Anderson, proves once again that he is the equal of Stefan Zweig as a biographer of women. His fairness, his control of his material and his eye for the revealing quotation are such that he makes us empathize with Miss Thompson even when we feel like strangling her.” — Washington Times

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography Memoir, American

828 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1990

About the author

PETER KURTH is the author of "Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson," "American Cassandra: The Life of Dorothy Thompson," "Tsar: The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra," and "Isadora: A Sensational Life," and co-author (with Eleanor Lanahan) of "Zelda: An Intimate Portrait." His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Condé Nast Traveler, Forbes FYI, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Observer, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, and Salon.com.

Peter Kurth lives in Vermont.

Reviews

[Don Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. I saw a play based on this book which made me want to find out more. Dorothy was a truly remarkable prophet and glassceiling breaker.

The book does not make her out as an infallible saint but instead shows her quick wit, intellect, passion, and foibles. It describes her awkward relationships but also her leadership and inspiration of many people.

Dorothy saw Hitler and many other world leaders for who they were way before the rest of the West caught on. She skewered presidents, celebrities, and anyone false prophets who misled people. Sometimes she was wrong, but she always accepted rational criticism and was willing to see shades of gray.

[Janelle Bogart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous book about the woman who met Hitler face to face before he came to power and tried to warn Americans and Europeans about the dangers of the Nazi regime. As the title suggests, Dorothy was a prophet before her time whose advice often went unheeded by world leaders and uninfluenced by public opinion. A prominent international correspondent, she knew the countries she reported on inside and out and was never afraid to speak the truth about what she saw and how she felt. Even before WW2 was won, she actively promoted reintegration of Germany as an independent state and was accused of anti-Semitism and threatened with physical harm through her advocacy of the German people. She never wavered in her financial support of rescuing dozens of artistic, literary and musical friends from death by the Nazis and her ardent stance against fascism and authoritarianism rings true today as our country grapples with the some of the same issues. Kurth does a wonderful job of weaving in written articles from her work with major newspapers and her statements in the “On The Record” column while simultaneously adding her personal correspondence with friends and family to illustrate the legacy of this famous female journalist. Kurth also gives us a sneak peek into her tumultuous marriage to the infamous Sinclair Lewis and her tragic relationship with their only son.
The epilogue should not be glazed over as Kurth ends with Dorothy’s line, “It is our fate to live in a time of crisis. To live in a time when all forms and all values are being challenged. In other and more easy times, it was not, perhaps, necessary for the individual to confront himself with a clear question, “What is it that you really believe? What is it that you really cherish? What is it for which you might, actually, in a showdown, be willing to die? I say, with all the reticence which such large, pathetic words evoke, that one cannot exist today as a person- one cannot exist in full consciousness- without having to have a showdown with oneself without having to define what it is that one lives by, without being clear in one’s own mind what matters and what does not matter.”

[Karen Koppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellently written and researched biography of a fascinating female journalist who wrote during the 1930's and beyond. She was politically wise and was able to literally predict what future outcomes would transpire just by her experiences and relationships with so many varied writers and politicians and many other kinds of personalities. Very outspoken and courageous in her writing. Met with Hitler and was literally kicked out of Germany because of her writings - offensive to Hitler's regime. Just one of many subjects that she covered. Turbulent marriage to Sinclair Lewis who was an alcoholic and a terrible father to their only son. A long book but well worth it for a better understanding of life in the early 30's and later.

[Judith Slawson King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absorbing and informative study of a famous journalist who was at one time married to Sinclair Lewis. It's a great title because like the Trojan princess, Dorothy Thompson's warnings (about Nazi Germany) were largely ignored. She had an expansive and dominating personality. Her life was richly peopled and full of adventures. The Katharine Hepburn role in "Woman of the Year" is based on Dorothy Thompson.

[Sfahrney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dragged - too detailed information.

[Katrina Doerfler · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful, beautiful life!! Thoroughly researched (with excerpts of her writing) and thoroughly enjoyable.

[Carla Swick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story. Very thorough. Dorothy wasn't perfect, but she was instrumental. The final portion of the book after her divorce started to drag. That's why I took a star off.

[Meagan Healy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous book. I felt like DT was taking me on a walk through history as she had seen it. Most of all, I appreciated that she had an opinion and was never afraid to state it.

Given that she knew so many people, nearly all of them influential, I must ask my high school history teachers why I had never even heard of her?

I highly recommend!

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, compelling account of Dorothy Thompson's life, but it jumps around in time a bit which I found a bit distracting.

[Suzanne Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating biography of Dorothy Thompson. I couldn't believe I had never heard of her. A woman of incredibly clear thinking and ahead of her time.

[Karen]

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