Demi-Tasse and Mrs. Grundy

A biography and collection of stories from 1924-1927 of writer Josephine Van De Grift, columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal and reporter for the Newspaper Enterprise Association.  Her column "Demi-Tasse and Mrs. Grundy" won praise from her readers nationwide.

A well-loved writer in her day, Josephine Van De Grift, later known as Mrs. William Rigby, began her writing career early in her teen years.  She went on to become a successful society page editor for the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio between 1924-1927, when she passed away suddenly at the age of 32 after childbirth complications.  Her passing devastated her readers.  Her followers begged her husband Bill to one day make a book of all her stories, but none was ever made – until now. 

Almost a century later, her great-granddaughter, Kristin (née Carter) Groulx, also a writer, historian and genealogist, has taken the time to thumb through saved newspaper clippings and put them to paper in one book for Josephine’s beloved readers to see and remember her by.