Chats with Champions will present Kathleen Stone at 10 a.m. Sept. 13 in the Porter Meeting Hall of Skidompha Library. Stone is the author of “The Called Us Girls: Stories of Female Ambition from Suffrage to Mad Men,” published by CynrenPress in 2022.

In the book, Stone takes readers back to the 20th century to see how women built fulfilling careers in an era when they were expected to stay home. When World War II ended, more American women worked outside the home than ever before. Yet the culture, from politicians to corporations to television shows, portrayed the ideal woman as a housewife. Many women happily assumed that role, but a small segment bucked the tide — women who wanted to use their talents differently, especially in jobs that had always been reserved for men.

You will meet seven of these unconventional women — doctors, lawyer, artist, physicist, executive director and intelligence officer—in the book. Through insightful, personalized portraits that span half of a century, Stone weaves stories of female ambition, uncovering the families, teachers, mentors and historical events that led to unexpected paths.

Two women from Maine will be of special interest to local residents. Cordelia Hood lived in Damariscotta after a career as an intelligence officer with OSS and CIA. She and her sister, Lizbeth Fisher, were active in a range of community affairs and had a lively group of friends. Dahlov Ipcar, artist and children’s book author beloved by generations of readers, spent her adult life on the Georgetown peninsula where she and her husband farmed, and she maintained an art studio. Stone had the pleasure of interviewing both Cordelia and Dahlov in their homes, as stated in a news release.

Before becoming a writer, Stone worked as a lawyer — law clerk to a federal judge, a litigation partner in a law firm, and senior counsel at a financial institution. Stone and her husband live in Boston and in a converted bait shack on a dock on Pemaquid Harbor.

Chats with Champions is a free community offering from Skidompha Library at 184 Main Street, Damariscotta. Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops generously sponsors this program. For more information, please call 207-887-0919.