A Lifetime in Words and Images: The Woman Behind "Juicy History"
I've relaunched this newsletter, which features a new run of original articles...unusual histories, rare images, and stories you won’t find anywhere else. Please read on!
To all my readers, first of all….
Thank you for taking the time to read my work.
I appreciate each and every one of you! And, in fact, it was only recently that I realized I haven’t shared much about my background or even why I write here on Substack.
It’s important to me that you feel confident in my qualifications to tell the stories you’re reading.
Therefore, I’d like to take this moment to further introduce myself.
In the bio below, I hope to provide a closer look at my background as a writer and photographer, as well as how I developed the skills to conduct detailed research and produce the photographic imagery that informs every story. If you’ve ever wondered what motivates me or where these stories come from, this is my way of taking you behind the scenes.
But First, About Juicy History
I’m a lifelong professional writer and photographer and currently hold a Professional Member designation in The Authors Guild (NYC). Throughout my lifetime, I have written and photographed for numerous major newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and the Associated Press. I even did a stint with ABC News, but I left when they eventually required a move to New York City, a deal I ultimately decided to turn down.
Today, I focus on writing about history but diligently try to avoid the same old, boring versions you’ve heard a hundred times before.
Instead, with every word, my goal is to make Juicy History a one-of-a-kind read here on Substack.
I imagine this newsletter in a similar vein as if discovering a hidden room tucked away in a shadowy corner of an eccentric museum. Heavy velvet curtains might block your view, but when you pull them aside, surprise…something stirs.
Here, with carefully crafted language and vivid, never-before-seen imagery, haunting stories from history come alive again.
As each tale unfolds, the past sharpens into focus. Voices are heard, scenes flicker, and for a fleeting moment inside your mind’s eye, you may even try to reach toward something just beyond. You can’t actually touch it…but you can feel it. That’s the essence of what I strive for behind Juicy History.
Indeed, Juicy History isn’t quite time travel, but it’s the closest you’ll get through a newsletter…a way to eavesdrop on the ages.
When it comes to history writing, I don’t just report the facts; I work to explain forgotten lives and overlooked stories. I’m driven by the need to understand and tell the truth about past events and the motivations behind them.
That’s why I take the time to do what I do. I work to uncover the backstory, cross-checking evidence and sources often found in overlooked archives. I go to great lengths to uncover personal histories and stories that have been ignored, misrepresented, or forgotten, all while paying close attention to defining historical accuracy and detail.
I’m passionate. I strive to find that one true detail or photograph that transforms dry history into a rich and unforgettable narrative.
Oh, and I do care about your imagination and the journey you take through my writing.
I also hope to cater to your reading interests, so I write about a wide range of topics. Always different, always intriguing.
Here at Juicy History, topics might include antique and vintage fashions, classic automobiles, rare books, art, and artists, as well as both famous and lesser-known historical figures. Sometimes I explore the stories hidden inside collectible objects. Since I’m also a foodie at heart, I enjoy creating articles about dining in the past, historical recipe books, and, of course, classic cocktails.
Every article is accompanied by unique, digitally enhanced photographs and illustrations, many of which are sourced from my extensive collection of vintage and antiquarian books and magazines. And of course, there’s the fun of the holidays, including strange traditions and seasonal curiosities. Every story is packed with fresh research and rarely seen images.
I truly love writing about the obscure and quirky tales that bring history to life!
And I promise!
You'll find something interesting and fun to read in Juicy History!
About Me and My Background
Throughout my life, I’ve dedicated every day to the arts. In that, I’ve worked professionally as a journalist, investigator, photojournalist, evidence photographer, designer, and fine artist. That same obsession with accuracy and truth continues to motivate everything I do, especially in my work with Juicy History.
When I search for the next story, I spend countless hours reading old books, periodicals, manuscripts, and letters. I trace stories passed down through families, searching for evidence of their truths. I haunt libraries, historical societies, and image collections looking for just the right information to develop into an article that will catch your eye and keep your interest.
Much of my information comes from obscure sources as well as some of the finest museums and public archives. After all this, I often challenge accepted versions of events in the hope of uncovering a pivotal point that time somehow left behind.
This isn’t recycled textbook material.
My work for Juicy History often takes days, weeks, or even longer to verify and produce these articles. Usually, the ideas for my articles are sparked by periodicals and books in my personal library, which date back to the 18th century. My collection also includes a wide range of antique and vintage magazines, as well as early photographs and ephemera.
Each article for Juicy History includes relevant photographs and illustrations to help readers follow the stories as they unfold. I strive to find unique imagery that directly relates to every article. Then, I spend many hours using my photographic skills to digitally enhance and restore the images for clarity and sharpness. At times, I work pixel by pixel to clean up old pictures and illustrations, making them easier to understand, but I never alter the truth.
Whenever necessary, I also often include interviews with experts, academics, or curators to verify and supplement the information in each article published in Juicy History. As required, I personally cover the licensing fees due for the images used in this newsletter. And I always provide references, citations, and acknowledgments.
If you're curious about the secrets and true stories that history has kept tucked away, you're in the right place.
About Me
My first magazine piece was published while I was studying and performing as a classical cellist and pianist at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Still, even then, when I had a chance to get away from the practice room, I would stay awhile at our secluded lakeside cabin. There, I practiced writing the same way I practiced music. For days, alone, and as often as I could, I wrote at our picnic table on the old sunporch, with only the sounds of geese flying overhead and the steady lap of water against the dock. That’s when I felt most myself and happiest. That’s where I first found my voice.
Between rehearsals and performances at the Conservatory and beyond, I continued to write secretly and managed to publish my work. But there was one constant battle. My mother strongly disapproved of my apparent loss of interest in a musical career, and she never wavered from her opinions.
But I was determined. After an especially intense investigative series gained national attention, I packed my clips, a few books, and a suitcase, then drove to Boston without telling anyone, especially my mother. There alone for a few weeks, often skipping meals to get by, I began applying for writing jobs and felt increasingly attracted to investigative reporting.
Within three weeks, I was hired by the Boston Herald and eventually became a staff writer. Additionally, the team of Pulitzer-winning photojournalists there took me under their wing, and I discovered the power of visual storytelling. Photography became an extension of my writing…another way to illuminate the truth.
A few short years later, the newspaper was sold, and I was one of many devastated by the newsroom budget cuts. I had to find a way to adapt if I wanted to stay in Boston. I studied business classes and classical art for two years. I was then accepted at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design to pursue a degree in graphic design and illustration.
While at MassArt, I worked at the renowned Goodspeed’s Antiquarian Bookshop, located near the State House in Boston. It was there that I was introduced to an extraordinary world through my mentors, who were celebrated for their lifelong expertise in authenticating, selling, and curating historic prints, manuscripts, documents, and rare antiquarian books.
At Goodspeed’s, my young hands were privileged to hold one of the very few remaining original Dunlap Broadsides, the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence, now valued at millions of dollars. Today, decades later, I understand that this document is stored in a secure off-site location in New England and is rarely on display.
My memories are vivid and warm as I recall Goodspeed’s walls and shelves at 7 Beacon Street. They displayed authentic personal letters penned by Abraham Lincoln, Monet, Chagall, George Washington, Amelia Earhart, and Charles Dickens, among other notable figures from history. In addition to all this, I was surrounded by bookshelves, stacks, and flat files filled with cases of rare first editions, fine prints, heraldry, Americana, and fascinating original early maps, many of which were illustrated with tall ships circumventing sea monsters.
At Goodspeed’s, I would often quietly pause and daydream about these great historical figures as they wrote, sketched, or composed the actual pages I held. Sometimes, I imagined peeking behind that heavy curtain of time to catch a glimpse of them at work. It was an extraordinary feeling to almost meet these historic figures inside my imagination, all while holding the very pages they had once touched in my own hands.
It felt as though I was reaching back through time, brushing against ghosts.
However, what truly captivated me at Goodspeed’s was the collection of medieval manuscripts. They were like twinkling jewels. These magnificent manuscript books, pages, and fragments were many hundreds of years old and produced on calfskin vellum, before paper. Each page was alive with the most intricate and perfect calligraphy. These pages were often profusely illustrated with vivid miniature paintings, entirely hand-painted with brilliantly colored pigments, some of which were ground from semi-precious stones.
The most precious illuminations were often finished with thick, mirror-like layers of 24-karat raised gold, which made the miniature paintings flash with gilt lightning across their ancient lead gesso foundations. These treasures were rarely displayed at Goodspeed’s. They were typically reserved only for the holiday season and were selectively shown to high-profile collectors and museum curators with the means and reverence to appreciate them.
My fascination with early book-making evolved into years of devoted study and professional studio work in calligraphy, gilding, and illumination. Over the years, I sought out professional-level classes with some of Europe’s most celebrated contemporary calligraphers and illuminators. My passion even led me to an extraordinary opportunity to travel to Paris to study at the Bibliothèque Nationale.
There, I was granted permission, because of my affiliation with Goodspeed’s, to sketch and study from an important original illuminated manuscript written by 15th-century physician and astrologer Pierre Choinet at the end of his life. This was a magnificent folio sized book (320 x 220 mm or 12.6 inches by 8.6 inches) featuring 12 elaborate and highly detailed miniature hand-paintings by the famous illuminator, Échevinage Master from Rouen (also known as the Master of the Geneva Latini…his actual name is unknown; active 1450-1485), entitled Le Livre des Trois Âges.
This exceedingly important 15th-century illuminated manuscript is considered one of the finest of its kind. And my exceptional experience of handling and learning from this incredible manuscript, while seated inside the glorious Rare Manuscript Department of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, remains a highlight of my lifetime.
And, to add, in case you’re wondering…I had the privilege of working from the original (handwritten and hand-painted) manuscript, unlike most. No microfiche for me, thank you very much.
Eventually, and more recently, my curiosity drew me into the world of antiques and museum-quality objects. I became an Accredited Appraiser with the International Society of Appraisers. For years, I researched, interviewed, wrote, and photographed, creating lengthy formal evaluations and historical documentary essays for private, often high-profile estates and museum collections. Along the way, I worked closely with experts you may recognize from Antiques Roadshow.
Yet through every chapter of my life, I’ve always returned to writing and photography.
And so, yes, here I am again, pushing forward, hoping to make Juicy History one of your favorite reads.
Throughout my lifetime, my work, both words and imagery, has appeared in newspapers, magazines, advertising, as well as on descriptive boards for galleries and museum collections.
However, today, I dedicate myself to this newsletter and to the endlessly fascinating stories that swirl through time.
Finally, and on a very personal note….
As some of you may know from a recent article I shared here at Juicy History, titled My Story, I’ve been undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer. The good news is, yes, I’m now mainly on the other side of it. There’s still one major surgery to come, but the overall prognosis is excellent, and hopefully, everything will soon be left behind, as they say…to history.
So what you see now is me…a writer and photographer…gradually finding my rhythm again.
And if you’ve noticed the quiet gaps between my posts, that’s why.
To every one of you, I genuinely appreciate your patience and for sticking with me. My subscriber list continues to grow, despite losing another subscriber about a month ago, which brings the total to two over the life of Juicy History. Maybe they will change their minds in time!
Your ongoing support, including likes, comments, and all those growing numbers of subscriptions…both paid and unpaid…are all acts of kindness that mean more than I can express in words, especially at this time in my life.
For now, Juicy History remains without paywalls. If you’ve chosen to support my work with a paid subscription, thank you. Very much! Your generosity truly helps sustain me as I regroup from one of the most difficult and long seasons of my life. I’m deeply grateful.
Please, I hope you know that when you take the time to read my articles on Juicy History all the way through…
And when you take that split second to click that little red heart to “Like” my work…
And when you leave even a few thoughts of your own in the Comments section….
And, finally, if you pass along any of my articles or a gift subscription to someone you know who might enjoy reading Juicy History…
All of this matters a lot!
More than I can say.
I’m entirely grateful for your subscription and your support.
Thank you for walking with me as I write my way back to health….
I could not be more sincere.
Keep in touch, okay?
Julia
P.S. Look for the next introductory post here at Juicy History in three days!
Yes, I already have a stack of articles ready to go, and I'm scheduling them for prompt publication. I’m determined to keep my promise of publishing consistently!
And, yes, I plan to make up for a great deal of lost time with some
great new stories!
All stories and images are original and copyrighted unless otherwise noted and acknowledged. © 2022 to Present by Julia Henri. All rights reserved.
Julia, you are one courageous and extremely talented woman! Welcome back to doing what you absolutely love! Let the stories appear!!
Looking forward to what's coming next, so happy to see you back and to reading some more wonderful stories, Julia.