author
Agnes S. Underwood
A hard-driving Los Angeles crime reporter who broke barriers in American journalism, she became one of the first women to run a city desk at a major metropolitan daily. Her life story moves from a difficult childhood into decades of headline-making newspaper work.
1 Audiobook
The Story of a Robin
by Agnes S. Underwood
About the author
Born in San Francisco in 1902, Agness "Aggie" Underwood built a remarkable newspaper career in Los Angeles after an early life marked by instability and hardship. She began at the Los Angeles Record and went on to become a well-known court and police reporter, earning a reputation for toughness, speed, and deep knowledge of the city beat.
In 1947, she was named city editor of the Los Angeles Herald-Express, making history as one of the first women in the United States to hold that role at a major metropolitan daily. She later served as assistant managing editor at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, helping shape coverage in one of the country’s most competitive newspaper towns.
Underwood also wrote the autobiography Newspaperwoman, reflecting on both her difficult beginnings and her years in journalism. Today she is remembered as a pioneering editor and crime reporter who opened doors for women in newsrooms long before that was common.