Nellie Bly’s Best Detour: Meeting Jules Verne While Racing Around the World
In 1889, journalist Nellie Bly set out to circle the globe faster than the fictional Phileas Fogg. Soon after crossing the Atlantic, she accepted a risky detour to Amiens to meet Jules Verne, whose novel had inspired her journey. Their brief conversation included a playful comparison of her route with Fogg’s—and ended when Bly checked her watch and hurried for the only train that would keep her schedule intact. She completed the journey in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds. The lasting charm of her account lies not only in that record, but in the human details she preserved. Her example offers a memoir lesson: begin with the official fact, then record the worry, joke, practical problem and choice that reveal what the experience meant....