Blanche Partington (25 November 1866 – 12 March 1951) was born into an artistic family and was the eldest of 7 children.
She had no formal schooling due to her father moving around a lot but was taught to read and write and her father made her study and recite long pieces of famous poetry.
They eventually settled in San Francisco, California and it was there she became a journalist in an era where there were very few.
She started to have her interviews with famous people published in the San Francisco Chronicle from 1900 onwards.
She then became a regular Sunday columnist and bought a modern feel to the paper containing interviews, gossip and entertainment news.
Her full time journalistic career ended with the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.
She continued to be a central figure in the local cultural scene and although she never married it was rumoured she had a love affair with the writer Jack London.
Blanche also developed and interest in Christian Science before she died in Buena Vista Park in 1951.
