The Maimie Papers

Letters from an Ex-prostitute

Author: Maimie Pinzer
Secondary Author: Ruth Rosen
ISBN: 9781558611436

   In 1910, a remarkable correspondence began between a wealthy and distinguished Bostonian philanthropist, Fanny Quincy Howe, and Maimie Pinzer, a Jewish prostitute living in Philadelphia and just recovering from morphine addiction.The Maimie Papers is Maimie's side of that correspondence, offerring an unprecedented and still unique account of the life of a woman of the streets and of her inspiring transformation.    After a childhood in a wealthy but troubled family, Maimie's struggle for survival began at age 13 following years of apparent incestuous abuse. Her descent led her through reformatories, jails, and hospitals. It also brought her into contact with a sometimes colorful, sometimes grim assortment of people living on the edge, whose miseries and hopes she depicts with a true writer's gift.    With the intervention of a devoted social worker and the support of Fanny Quincy Howe-and despite experiences of sexual harrasment-Maimie is able, during the course of her corr

Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY
Publish Date: 1997

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Women, Literary Collections / Essays, Psychology / Human Sexuality

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Women's Studies)