Jane’s BIO:

Jane Tarkin was born in the Midwest, where she rode horses, read books, and broke all her university’s women’s weightlifting records. She first met Deborah Sampson while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when Sampson was mentioned in a short film subject. A move to Boston gave Ms. Tarkin access to the Massachusetts Historical Society, the extraordinary troves of the Boston Public Library’s research wing, and the historical societies of the small towns where Deborah Sampson lived before and after the American Revolution. Ms. Tarkin spent two years using her library privileges at Yale University to delve into their original document collections and first editions to achieve an intimate understanding of Sampson’s military service and the social milieu of 18th and early 19th century America. Her desk beside a stained glass window in the Sterling stacks remains one of her favorite spots on Earth.

Jane lives with her husband and son.