Sources
| Source | ID | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GoodReads | 250282439 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250282439 |
| Amazon |
Description
The News-Herald - Franklin, PA
November 10, 1922
Southern Sheriff Says No Jail Can Hold Fair Tomboy of Mountains
Parkersburg authorities refused to pursue Veneida Smith, pretty 16-year-old girl, an alleged horse thief and jail breaker, into her mountain hiding places today. The sheriff and his deputies, opined "There ain't no jail that'll hold her," following the last escape when she sawed the bars in her cell window with a tiny blade of steel smuggled into the jail in her shoe. Sliding to the ground on a rope made with bed clothes, the "Holy Terror Tomboy," as she is known to authorities, evaded pursuit to outskirts of town where she secured her pony and galloped away in the direction of Cairo. Veneida is the veteran of a long string of jail breaks, according to authorities. Once she wrecked her cell with an iron bar because the sheriff refused to give her cigars to smoke. Previously she had broken out of a reform school, and numerous efforts of social workers to reform her were met with this reply: "The devil got me into it, let him get me out." Parkersburg authorities describe the girl as "pretty as a picture, wild as a deer, hardy as a mountain goat, as hard as nails, and able to care for herself anywhere."
From 1922 to 1924 newspapers were awash with reports of the Holy Terror Tomboy aka Vernieda Serenus Smith (misspelled ‘Veneida' by reporters). This volume of stories aims to celebrate Vernieda Smith as a unique woman, and place her in the tall tales traditions of Paul Bunyan, Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, and John Henry by imagining if her larger than life tales lived on in the next thousand years, as stories of her cross the galaxy and are told and retold.
The collection includes the following stories:
Remote Protocol by Rebecca Hardy
It Was Never About the Bike by Marie Croke
Girl, Thief, Stranger by M.L.D. Curelas
Going Out in Style by Kara Race-Moore
November 10, 1922
Southern Sheriff Says No Jail Can Hold Fair Tomboy of Mountains
Parkersburg authorities refused to pursue Veneida Smith, pretty 16-year-old girl, an alleged horse thief and jail breaker, into her mountain hiding places today. The sheriff and his deputies, opined "There ain't no jail that'll hold her," following the last escape when she sawed the bars in her cell window with a tiny blade of steel smuggled into the jail in her shoe. Sliding to the ground on a rope made with bed clothes, the "Holy Terror Tomboy," as she is known to authorities, evaded pursuit to outskirts of town where she secured her pony and galloped away in the direction of Cairo. Veneida is the veteran of a long string of jail breaks, according to authorities. Once she wrecked her cell with an iron bar because the sheriff refused to give her cigars to smoke. Previously she had broken out of a reform school, and numerous efforts of social workers to reform her were met with this reply: "The devil got me into it, let him get me out." Parkersburg authorities describe the girl as "pretty as a picture, wild as a deer, hardy as a mountain goat, as hard as nails, and able to care for herself anywhere."
From 1922 to 1924 newspapers were awash with reports of the Holy Terror Tomboy aka Vernieda Serenus Smith (misspelled ‘Veneida' by reporters). This volume of stories aims to celebrate Vernieda Smith as a unique woman, and place her in the tall tales traditions of Paul Bunyan, Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, and John Henry by imagining if her larger than life tales lived on in the next thousand years, as stories of her cross the galaxy and are told and retold.
The collection includes the following stories:
Remote Protocol by Rebecca Hardy
It Was Never About the Bike by Marie Croke
Girl, Thief, Stranger by M.L.D. Curelas
Going Out in Style by Kara Race-Moore