"When Lesley was 11, she told her mother that she wanted to be a sportswriter. The job didn't exist for women in 1964, but her mother-instead of suggesting she become a teacher or a nurse-replied, "Great! Sometimes you have to cross when it says, 'Don't walk." That answer changed Lesley's life. Even though no one had done it before, it gave her the strength and self-confidence to try-permission to cross against the light. When Lesley began, the credentials...

"Strike fast, strike hard-whether it's scoring a homerun or front-page news, Diane K. Shah, former sports columnist, knows how to grab the best story. In her memoir A Farewell to Arms, Legs, and Jockstraps, follow Diane's escapades, from interviews with a tipsy Mickey Mantle, to sneaking into off limits Republican galas, dining with Frank Sinatra, flying a plane with Dennis Quaid, and countless other adventures where she wields her tape recorder and...

"While sportswriters rushed into Major League Baseball locker rooms to talk with players, MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn barred the lone woman from entering along with them. That reporter, 26-year-old Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke, charged Kuhn with gender discrimination, and after the lawyers argued Ludtke v. Kuhn in federal court, she won. Her 1978 groundbreaking case affirmed her equal rights, and the judge's order opened the doors for...