In Their Shoes: A White Woman's Journey Living as a Black, Navajo, and Mexican Illegal

Chisholm Trail Series

by Grace Halsell

Probably no American journalist, man or woman, has had a more extraordinary career than Grace Halsell. Before President Lyndon Johnson personally hired her to work in the White House, Halsell had, over a period of two decades, written her way around the world - Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Orient, and the Americas. Born on the windswept plains of West Texas, Halsell was encouraged from the age of five by her pioneer father, who had led cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail, to travel, to get the benefit of knowing other peoples. She began her travels at the age of twenty, going first to Mexico and then touring the British Isles by bicycle. Halsell studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and lived in London, Tokyo, Berlin and Seoul. In Hong Kong, where she lived on a fishing junk with a Chinese family of nineteen, she wrote a column for the Tiger Standard; in Tokyo, where she slept on tatami mats, ate raw fish and took scalding ofuro baths, she was a columnist for the Japan Times. Moving to South America, she traveled on a tug for 2000 miles down the Amazon and crossed the Andes by jeep. In Lima, she became a columnist for the Spanish-language daily, La Prensa. Halsell has been the Big Buddha, the Taj Mahal, the pyramids and Machu Picchu, has interviewed presidents, movie stars, kings and prime ministers. Her newspaper dispatches for the New York Herald Tribune, the New York Post and the Christian Science Monitor have datelined war zones in Korean, Vietnam and Bosnia, as well as Russia, China, Macedonia and Albania.

252 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1978

About the author

The daughter of writer Harry H. Halsell, she studied at Texas Tech from 1939 to 1942, at Columbia from 1943 to 1944, at Texas Christian University from 1945 to 1951, and at the Sorbonne (Paris) from 1957 to 1958.

She worked for several newspapers between 1942 and 1965, including the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Washington bureau of the Houston Post. She covered both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a reporter, and was a White House speech writer for President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1968. Halsell wrote thirteen books, the best-known of which was Soul Sister (1969)

Reviews

[Elliot Ratzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mature book about “illegal” Mexican workers, written during the late 70s, but it could have been written last year. Halsell, whose previous immersion journalism had her posing as a black woman and a Native American, this time poses as a Mexican migrant, crossing the border without papers three times, at great risk to her safety. Most of the book is not about her immersion experiments, but telling interviews with illegal workers, border patrol officers, government officials, and community activists. She reviews the then-nascent Alinsky organizing emerging in the Southwest. As in her previous books she romanticizes the workers who allegedly have stronger families and connections to nature than Anglos, often noting their docility and passivity. Hmm. Nevertheless, Halsell’s description of the specific challenges of Mexican woman was innovative and feminist, and her critique of the well-meaning Democratic administration trying to balance order and human rights is dishearteningly familiar.

[Cat Rayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, Grace Hasell, was a fascinating woman. Her life reads like a travelogue, not just throughout the world but in the psyche of other cultures.

“In Their Shoes” is more a compilation of excerpts of her books like “Soul Sister” and “Bessie Yellow hair” so there are limitations to the stories presented in this book. It tells of her upbringing, her travels, her career, while injecting commentary on being a woman in a man’s world. Capitalizing on that, she explores living as other races/cultures. These stories were both enlightening and condescending. Hasell seemed to be living in these worlds under the guise of the stereotypes she was challenging.

She travelled the world as a journalist and defied norms for the time period. She seemed a fearless person who was not going to be denied her desires nor principles. This is a good read for a foundation of her life. But after read, be sure and get “Soul Sister” for a deeper telling of her experience as a different race.

[Anieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

In their Shoes by Grace Halsell, written in 1996, whetted my appetite for more of her books. This one seemed like a Cliff notes version of her experiences as a wetback crossing the Rio Grande, as a black nanny in a white world nearly raped, as a Native American... In just 252 pages, the depth I would have liked is not possible.

The writing however is sold, crisp, and clear. Also clear, she risked her life to understand the "others'" stories. In a time where "othering" seems to be what so many of us do best, this is an especially important read.

[Eliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book in my bookcase ... no idea when or where I picked it up, but I’m glad I did! Halsell has endless curiosity about people and places. This book reads like an introduction to her life and experiences. A good read. Google led to an article (by Robin Kelly, published in AMEU 2014 vol 14) about her life that was almost as interesting as the book.

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. This book is just an overview of her life. I’ve already ordered “Soul Sister” and “Bessie Yellowhair” as I’m curious of all the details. Grace is a great writer and very adventurous especially for her time.

[Mahalia Solages · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing! this woman became a bunch of different nationalities and lived them including becoming a black maid, what an adventure.