Marion

The years of the Great Depression were a glorious time for women's amateur golf in America, and Marion Miley was one of the most dominant players of that era. A Kentucky State Amateur Champion at the age of seventeen and a three-time member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team, she won over 80 regional and national tournaments, the exploits of her remarkable career well-documented in newspapers of the time. MARION follows her remarkable life, growing up as the daughter of a prominent club maker and teaching professional in the North East, Florida, and the Mid-West, following her amazing trajectory from before her birth in Philadelphia in 1914 to her tragic headline grabbing murder during a botched country club robbery in 1941. She was just twenty-seven and still in her ascendancy at the time, playing on a par with Patty Berg, Betty Jameson, Babe Didrikson and other legends who later founded the LPGA. At the time of her death, she was also breaking new feminist ground as a spokeswoman for Standard Oil, trading on her fame as one of the game's most accomplished, vibrant, and appealing stars. Her legacy was all but erased from the public consciousness by World War II and the years of recovery that followed. This book paints a detailed picture of just who she was, bringing her long-neglected memory vividly back to life.