About The Author, Interviews & FAQs
Albion grew up in Maine with a great respect for the past. She has degrees from the University of Maine and George Washington University. Before becoming a writer, Albion worked at a number of museums including Fort Western Museum, The Maine State Museum, The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and The Edison and Ford Winter Estates.
While Curator at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, Albion was fascinated by both Thomas and Mina Edison. The Florida Life of Thomas Edison was published in 2008. Her second, tentatively titled, The Quotable Thomas Edison, is in the process of being published. She is in the process of writing her third, The Quotable Henry Ford. While Albion has found both Edison and Ford fascinating, she is seeking to do her next major project on a significant American woman.
Interview with the Author
June 2009 interview with WGCU in Fort Myers, Florida.
http://wgcu.org/audioplayer/5807.aspx — Louis Hernandez interview
Note: Michele misspoke when she said Harvey Firestone was part of the 1914 camping trip. Firestone went camping with Edison on a number of occasions, but not in 1914.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long did it take you to write The Florida Life of Thomas Edison?
The research took 9 years on and off and the writing took about 2 years. Keep in mind that I had four children during that time and was home with them. - You are home with four kids and you still have time to write?
I won’t deny that it’s extremely challenging. My youngest is 4, so this is the first year I’ve had any writing time during the day because he was in preschool two mornings a week. My husband also takes care of the kids Sunday mornings so I can get in a few hours uninterrupted. Other than that I carve out hours before the kids wake up or after they’ve gone to bed. - You rely on literally hundreds of sources. How did you find so many?
I was fortunate that there are so many primary sources—first hand documents written during the time period—relating to the Edisons. The Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey has literally five million pages of documents. Many of those are on line. Other repositories were very kind in sharing their collections. Then there were private individuals who shared documents or oral histories. There were two items I had a great deal of difficulty acquiring. One was a 1929 interview with Mina Edison by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. The issue of McCalls Magainze was widely circulated but that particular issue seemed to be missing from most libraries. The second was an article by German historian Emil Ludwig. My brother found it for me in a library in Munich. - Do you feel that you really get into the Edisons’ heads?
I don’t think anyone really can get into Thomas Edison’s head—although both Paul Israel and Neil Baldwin have come close. He was an enigmatic character with a multi-faceted personality. He was very charismatic and knew how to play the press, but he very seldom recorded his personal feelings. He did write a diary, but it is pretentious, self-conscious and unfortunately short-lived, so it’s little help. Getting into Edison’s head is at best like grasping a hand full of sand. Some of it is easy to get, but much of it slips through your fingers. Mina Edison, on the other hand, was a paradigm of her generation’s custom of letter writing. She faithfully sent missives to her parents and large family, thereby allowing us a larger glimpse into her unguarded feelings. I am not completely “in her head,” but I feel I have a clearer understanding of Mina, than Thomas Edison. - What do your kids think of their mother writing a book?
My youngest two don’t completely understand. The idea that someone writes the books they read is a bit abstract. But if I were ever to get a big head, my oldest two would rein in my ego. When I received the Edison book jacket in the mail, my 8 year-old son said, “Is that it? It took you long enough to write. I thought it was going to be an actual book or something.” - How about your husband?
Jim is my biggest booster, but sometimes he goes too far. I had to sit down and explain to him that I’m not going to sell as many books as Stephen King. It was quite the shock to him - Do you plan to write about the Edisons in the future?
Yes. My next book, tentatively titled, THE QUOTABLE THOMAS EDISON, is now at the publisher. As the title implies, it is a collection of Edison quotes about everthing from inventing, to politics, to art. - What are you working on now?
As I mentioned, the QUOTABLE THOMAS EDISON, is with the publisher and I am researching THE QUOTABLE HENRY FORD. Much as I have enjoyed research and writing on these great American icons, I would really like to work on a significant American woman for my next project.