![]() The second of three daughters, as an early assertion she dropped her birth name, Nancy, and renamed herself Sylvia. Books opened doors to freedom, shaped her thinking and feelings and gave her courage to rebel. Books, she said, were the friends of her childhood. ![]() Born in 1887 in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers, she gave up on church but found sanctity in books, bookshops and libraries. Her determination and courage were exceptional. "Books opened doors to freedom, shaped her thinking and feelings and gave her courage to rebel" When she spent time in a country, she always learned something of its language. She spoke idiomatic French with an American accent and was fluent enough in several other languages. ![]() ![]() Her conversation was humorous and open, often acerbic, but not aggressive. She liked comfortable clothes, mannish jackets, neckties, loose skirts and sensible shoes, and energetic outdoor pursuits like mountain hiking and horse riding. She was five foot two, thin, with a brisk walk, a determined chin, bobbed hair, and brown eyes behind steel-rimmed glasses. Her appearance was sprightly but unremarkable. ![]()
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