Jordan was an amazing woman, admired by many for her various abilities.Although she was often in the newsroom for up to 18 hours a day, she found time for things like her friends, authors Frances Hodgson Burnett and Mark Twain, playing the piano, golf, ice skating and hosting dinner parties. She was assistant Sunday editor at the New York World, editor of Harper's Bazaar, and a literary advisor at a publishing company. She wrote 28 novels and short-story collections.
She became known for her writing style, and her ability to write as if she was actually at the scene of a particular event. She wrote a fiction column, based on actual news events and interviews, every day of the week at the World. She was known as a feature writer, who composed human-interest stories, but she also did hard news under deadlines, going over legal documents and turning the dull information into a thrilling story. She wrote unusual stories that caused readers to act, such as a story about a poor woman who needed money to bury her dead infant. Because of Jordan's story, the woman received more than enough donations. Jordan's other unique stories included spending the night in a supposedly haunted house, covering the trial of Lizzie Borden, a woman accused of killing her parents with an ax, and talking to people who lived in the mountains, away from cities and contact with other people.
Jordan also fought for women's rights, and published the autobiography of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, the president of the National Women's Suffrage Organization, who dictated the entire book to Jordan while in bed with a broken ankle. Although Jordan's life was filled with a lot of writing and hard work, she remained professional and charming, and became a model for the new "career girl" at the turn of the century.
Jordan's life was so busy that she often did lots of things at once. Many women todayare forced to do this too - they go to work all day, and then come home and cook and clean for their families. Many times they even spend their remaining time volunteering for organizations, and being leaders of groups for children. Do you know any women whose lives are incredibly busy with all their activities? Talk to them, and find out how they balance all their work, and what they like to do the most. If a woman in your household is busy, ask her how you can help her so that she has more time to do the things she likes.