Born near Winchester, Virginia in 1920, Virginia Artrip Snyder moved to Boca Raton, Florida when she entered the inaugural class at Florida Atlantic University in 1964. She received a degree in government and politics in 1965 and went on to become an investigative reporter for the Ft. Lauderdale News and later the Boca Raton News. During her career in journalism she was accorded seven national, state, and local awards for investigative reporting. Mrs. Snyder gained prominence and credibility following her multi-part series that exposed the inhumane conditions at the South Florida State Mental Hospital. As a community activist, Mrs. Snyder spearheaded the establishment of the South County Neighborhood Center in Boca Raton which, in time, grew into the Florence Fuller Day Care Center and the Mae Volen Senior Center. Subsequent to her career as a reporter, Mrs. Snyder embarked on a new endeavor as private investigator. In 1975 she was named one of fourteen "Outstanding Women of Florida" by Governor Ruben Askew and one of "Florida's Finest" in 1996 by Governor Lawton Chiles. This collection is a compilation of Mrs. Snyder's work as a poet, news reporter, private investigator, and community activist.
