from
January 9, 1880
THIRTY YEARS IN DISGUISE:
A NOTED OLD CALIFORNIAN STAGE-DRIVER DISCOVERED. AFTER DEATH. TO BE A WOMAN.
Correspondence of the San Francisco Call
Actress, Author, Adventurer
CHARLEY” PARKHURST OBITUARY FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
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THIRTY YEARS IN DISGUISE:
About “The Whip” Novel
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The Whip is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west.
As a young woman in Rhode Island, she fell in love with a runaway slave and had his child. The destruction of her family drove her west to California, dressed as a man, to track the killer.
Charley became a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo. She killed a famous outlaw, had a secret love affair, and lived with a housekeeper who, unaware of her true sex, fell in love with her.
Charley was the first woman to vote in America in 1868 (as a man). Her grave lies in Watsonville, California.
Karen Kondazian
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An award winning Actress, Author and Journalist
Karen Kondazian’s career as an actor, author and journalist is as diverse as it is long. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of eight Karen was chosen to be one of the infamous children on Art Linkletter’s “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” The opportunity to miss school during tapings was all it took for Karen to abandon her life’s goal of becoming a CIA spy and focus on acting.
She completed her schooling at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA), The University of Vienna and San Francisco State University, where she received her B.A., after which she began her acting career in New York. Her first professional work was in the award winning production of Michael Cacoyannis’ The Trojan Women at the Circle in the Square Theatre.
In 1979, she won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in The Rose Tattoo, (in which her work as actor and producer so impressed Tennessee Williams that they became friends and he gave her carte blanche to produce any of his work in his lifetime).
