New York Times Best-Selling Author Amy Stewart to Visit St. Helens Public Library

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2019

ST. HELENS, OR – Amy Stewart, award-winning author of the Kopp Sisters series, will speak at the St. Helens Public Library on Tuesday, October 22 at 7 p.m.

The Kopp Sisters series is based on the true story of one of America’s first female deputy sheriffs and her two sisters. In 2012, Stewart stumbled across a 1914 newspaper article about Constance Kopp. She was fascinated by her story and went on to uncover the amazing history of Constance and her two sisters, Norma and Fleurette, through genealogical archives, court records, old newspapers, and interviews with family members. For over a decade, their crime-fighting exploits were chronicled in newspapers nationwide before they were eventually forgotten through the passage of time.

Based on their lives, Stewart has written a five-book series featuring the detective and crime-fighting exploits of the Kopp sisters. The series begins in 1914 and dramatizes the events that led to the deputation of Constance Kopp. The other books highlight Constance’s career in law enforcement and shine a light on the very real disparities in the treatment of men and women in the early 1900s.

The fifth book and newest installment in the series, “Kopp Sisters on the March,” was released on September 17, 2019. It shares the story of Constance and her sisters who join a National Service School as the U.S. prepares to enter World War I. Constance takes on the role of camp matron, and together the sisters take on the War Department, face the disdain of the public, and come to grips with the challenges and terror of war.

The Kopp Sisters book series is currently in development with Amazon Studios for a television series.

At her October 22 author visit in St. Helens, Stewart will share photographs and stories about these extraordinary sisters and the fascinating historical background that shaped their world over 100 years ago. The series will be available for purchase at the event. Stewart will also sign books after her presentation.

The Kopp Sisters books are available to check out at the St. Helens Public Library.

Stewart lives in Portland, Oregon and owns an independent bookstore in California. In addition to the Kopp Sisters series, she is the author of popular nonfiction titles including “The Drunken Botanist,” “Wicked Plants,” and “Flower Confidential.” She has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and Fresh Air and profiled in the New York Times. Stewart has won a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the American Horticulture Society’s Book Award, an International Association of Culinary Professionals Food Writing Award, and was invited to be the first Tin House Writer-in-Residence, a partnership with Portland State University. She is a highly sought-after public speaker who has given lectures at Cornell and Harvard universities, Google corporate offices, and many conferences, book festivals, and libraries nationwide. 

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For further information regarding Amy Stewart’s visit to St. Helens Public Library, please contact Library Technician Nicole Woodruff at nicolew@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-397-4544.