..". a fitting tribute to a vibrant, outspoken woman consumed with her love for family and artistic expression." Kirkus Reviews Addie L. Ballou is mentioned in articles on suffrage as a California contemporary of Cora Foltz and Laura de Force Gordon. And listed as the artist who painted the official portrait of the 18th governor of California, Henry Harrison Markham. We know she traveled to Melbourne, Australia to study the paranormal, to lecture on reform, and to stay in the mansion of Thomas H. Stanford. So why haven't we heard of Addie, the mother of four? Or Addie the wife who believed in reform? Or the poet who left a trail of bread crumbs to her heart and a score of descendants who inherited her drive and artistic abilities? Could it be ... she followed her heart, not necessarily the rules of the day? Or that she was ahead of her time, not appreciated by her family, and stubborn as all get out? Based on family diaries, her published autobiographical poetry, and solid research, this narrative biography gives us a rare insight into the life of Addie L. Ballou. She was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, April 29, 1838, the fifth child of Alexander Hamilton Hart and Polly Eldredge and rebelled for good causes, left a legacy we need to commemorate. It's time.