Ann Jones (born September 3, 1937) is an American journalist and author of a number of non-fiction books about her research into women's and humanitarian issues: ''Women Who Kill'', ''Kabul in Winter'', ''Looking for Lovedu'', ''Next Time She'll be Dead'' and ''When Love Goes Wrong''. She has also written and taken photographs for a number of publications including ''National Geographic Traveler'', ''Outside'', ''The Nation'', ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' and ''The New York Times''. The majority of her work and writings centers on women's issues, especially
domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
. Jones has provided humanitarian aid around the world, including
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
,
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
and the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
.
She currently resides in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
Biography
Ann Jones was born September 3, 1937, in
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...
, the daughter of insurance broker Oscar Trygve Slagsvol and musician Bernice Slagsvol.
[Ann Jones in '']Contemporary Authors
''Contemporary Authors'' is a reference work which has been published by Gale since 1962. It provides short biographies and bibliographies of contemporary and near-contemporary writers. ''Contemporary Authors'' does not have selective inclusion cr ...
Online''. Gale. January 19, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2012. She grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from Eau Claire
Memorial High School Memorial High School may refer to:
United States As ''Memorial High School'' alone
*Memorial High School (Millville, New Jersey)
*Memorial High School (West New York, New Jersey)
*Memorial High School (St. Marys, Ohio)
* Memorial High School (Tul ...
in 1955.
She received a doctorate in American literature and intellectual history from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
[Ann Jones Forum Special](_blank)
(press release)
, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire ...
, April 20, 1981. Retrieved May 13, 2012. in 1970, and taught English at
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
from 1970 to 1973. She served as coordinator of women's studies at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
(1973–1975) and was a member of the writing faculty at
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.
...
(1986–1997). In 2002 Jones became a human rights researcher, teacher and women's advocate in Afghanistan.
Books
Women's violence issues
''Women Who Kill'',
originally published in 1980 and then re-printed in 1996 was Jones' first widely released and read book and included coverage of notable mysteries including that of
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...
.
The book led to Jones being interviewed on subjects such as
female incarceration,
battered wives,
and other issues affecting female violence. The book included controversial issues including whether homicide was a woman's last defense if she could not get support from others, including the police.
''Next Time She'll be Dead'',
like ''When Women Kill'', examined known cases of domestic violence and its effect on women, including
Hedda Nussbaum
Hedda Nussbaum (born August 8, 1942) is an American woman who was a caregiver of a six-year-old girl who died of physical abuse in 1987. The death of the girl, Lisa Steinberg, sparked a controversial trial and media frenzy. The legal case was one ...
.
''When Love Goes Wrong''.,
which Jones co-wrote with
Susan Schechter, was intended as a resource for women suffering from abuse.
Travel related
''Kabul in Winter'',
written about Jones' experience in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
in 2002 and her observations of a city utterly destroyed by war, warlords and the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
where she felt a need to try to pick up the pieces.
While in Afghanistan, Jones drew on her training as an English teacher and helped to re-train the city's teachers,
a challenge in a city where more than 95% of the women are affected by
domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
.
Jones is critical of the
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
administration, especially its policies in Afghanistan,
and the ways in which relief funds are used,
and her book touches on how those policies made working in Afghanistan somewhat of a challenge.
She has also reported from Afghanistan while embedded with U.S. and Afghan National Army troops.
''Looking for Lovedu'',
chronicles Jones' experience as she travels the length of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
from
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and her experiences with border guards, who could not understand her travelling on her own.
Jones took the trip with
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
photographer
Kevin Muggleton
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...
as a search for South Africa's ''Lovedu'' tribe,
but the trip ended up to be about far more, including women's issues in present-day Africa.
Bibliography
* ''Uncle Tom's Campus''. New York: Praeger, 1973.
* . New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. Second revised edition Beacon Press (Boston), 1996; Feminist Press, 1 October 2009,
* ''Everyday Death: The Case of Bernadette Powell''. New York: Holt, 1985.
*''When Love Goes Wrong: What to Do When You Can't Do Anything Right'' (with Susan Schechter). New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
* Boston: Beacon Press, 1994. Revised and updated edition, 2000.
* ''Guide to America's Outdoors: Middle-Atlantic'' (photography by Skip Brown). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001.
*
*
*
* Dispatch books/Haymarket Books. . October 2013.
References
External links
Ann Jones Online official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ann
1937 births
Living people
20th-century American writers
21st-century American writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
American expatriates in Afghanistan
American expatriates in Norway
American feminist writers
City College of New York faculty
Mount Holyoke College faculty
People from Eau Claire, Wisconsin
University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty
University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni
Writers from Massachusetts
Writers from Wisconsin
American women academics