About the Author

THE AUTHOR'S STORY

Jay Moynahan is a retired college professor from Eastern Washington University who is writing a series of books about prostitution in the American West.  There will be 60-85 different books in the collection.

The books focus on the sportin' women who lived and practiced west of the Mississippi from about 1849 to 1920.  Also included in the group will be books about ladies who operated in Western Canada and Alaska. Occasionally books from other times and areas will be published.

The author has been collecting material for these books since the early 1990s.  The material comes from newspapers, diaries, letters, jail records, police records, prison records, court records, photographs, books, magazines, census data, interviews and personal records.

A crusader of sorts, the author is trying to show what the life of the sportin' women was like.  He strives for as much accuracy as possible.  No TV or Hollywood distortions in these books, just life as it actually was lived.

There were a number of interesting and dynamic women in the ranks of the good time girls.  Many of these ladies were ahead of their time in social and cultural matters; consequently, their lives make for interesting reading.

Some of the women were in constant trouble with the law. They found themselves in a revolving door between jail and the streets.  Countless were addicted to drugs and alcohol. Many of their life stories read like an old soap opera, engaging but almost unbelievable.

The author's research became more personal in the mid- 1990s when he discovered a relative who was a madam in a bordello in Colorado.  Anna Moynahan (probably a great great aunt) supported herself in the 1870s by running a house of prostitution.  Little is known of Moynahan's Aunt Anna except that she ran the Star Adair in the mining town of Georgetown.