author
Geneve L. A. Shaffer
1888–1976
A writer, lecturer, and aviation pioneer, she brought a spirit of adventure to everything she did. Her best-known book, The Log of the Empire State, grew out of a long commercial tour of the Orient and captures the curiosity and energy of early 20th-century travel.
1 Audiobook
The Log of the Empire State
by Geneve L. A. Shaffer
About the author
Born in Wisconsin in 1888, Geneve L. A. Shaffer became known in California as a lecturer, realtor, and writer with an unusually adventurous public life. She was also active in early aviation and was celebrated in her day for gliding and other flying feats, which helped make her a minor pioneer figure as well as an author.
Her book The Log of the Empire State came from a three-month journey across the Pacific as part of a San Francisco Chamber of Commerce commercial tour, where she served as a representative for the San Francisco Examiner. The book reflects that firsthand experience, blending travel writing with observations on business, culture, and the excitement of international travel in the early 1900s.
Shaffer lived from July 20, 1888, to December 13, 1976. Though not a household name today, her life joined several striking threads of her era—women's public leadership, early flight, journalism, and travel writing—making her work an interesting window into a changing America.