Lynda Drews

media release:A Room of One's Own is thrilled to welcome Lynda Drews for a reading and conversation on her newest book The Maid and the Socialite.

This is an in person event at A Room of One's Own.

About The Maid and the Socialite

A Green Bay historical true crime story.

At the turn of the 20th century, cities around the world were rife with syphilis, yet no blood test could prove it. Two women in Green Bay, Wisconsin found their lives destroyed by that simple fact. Mary, an illiterate maid, and Mollie, a college-educated socialite, fell victim to the physical violence and mental abuse of celebrated surgeon Dr. John R. Minahan. To silence them, he claimed they had that shameful and dreaded disease. But as medical science advanced and suffragettes marched for their rights, Mary and Mollie found the courage to stand up for theirs. 

This is the only full account written about Dr. John R. Minahan, whose family dominated Green Bay’s professional, business, and political arenas from 1892 to 1954. Dr. Minahan’s wealth built a college stadium, science center, and six-story office building—all named for him—while history lost, or perhaps erased, Mary’s and Mollie’s heroic stories—until now.

Lynda Drews, a Wisconsin native, gave the commencement speech at her University of Wisconsin-La Crosse alma mater. She encouraged students to journal their lives as she had. For Drews in 2009, Run at Destruction: A True Fatal Love Triangle was the outcome. The Investigation Discovery Channel filmed a segment based on that book, and it was endorsed by Ann Rule, the best-selling true crime author. Drews is also the author of Circle of Innocence, Desperate Parallels, and the newly released The Maid and the Socialite: The Brave Women Behind Green Bay's Scandalous Minahan Trials. When Lynda’s not writing, she teaches classes for Write On Door County, participates on the Brown County Historical Society Board, reads, runs, knits, plays bridge, and drinks coffee.