Emma May Alexander Reinertsen

Emma May Alexander Reinertsen (, Alexander; pen name, Gale Forest; also known as, Mrs. R. C. Reinertsen; January 6, 1853 – March 22, 1920) was a pseudonymous American writer of prose sketches, and articles on social reform issues. As "Gale Forest", she was the author of Five Cousins in California. She also wrote about temperance and various customs such as wearing hats in theaters, and spitting in street cars and on sidewalks.

Early life and education Emma May Alexander was born in Buffalo, New York, January 6, 1853. Her father was Capt. Squire Alexander and her mother was Henrietta E. Sherman.

Reinertsen came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when four years of age, her father having made that decision after receiving a shipbuilding patent and a portion of Jones Island. After some financial disappointments, he returned to his life on the sea, where he died and was buried.

Published in 1909, Five Cousins in California was a children's book set in Pasadena, California.

Reinertsen also wrote on social reform issues. In 1873, she began addressing the topic of temperance, particularly the custom of children being allowed to carry beer from saloons to homes and shops. One of her later articles on the subject was forwarded to Mark Twain, who highly commended it and was strongly in favor of the reform. Eventually, an ordinance was secured in Milwaukee, and thereafter, hundreds of cities and villages passed laws against the custom of spitting on sidewalks. National Society United States Daughters of 1812, College Endowment Association, and the Milwaukee Outdoor Art Association. Her son Rex was killed in September 1907 when he suffered a fractured skull after being thrown from an automobile, aged 30.

Emma May Alexander Reinertsen died on March 22, 1920, in Wisconsin, aged 67.

Selected works

Books Five Cousins in California (1909)

Sketches "A Girl's Soliloquy in Church" (1874) "How to Keep Your Husband's Love" (1876) "How To Keep Your Wife's Love" (1876) "For Whom the Boot Fits" (1878) "My Neighbors" (1881) "How They Meet and Part" (1881) "A Forbidden Topic" (1884) "The Model Husband" (1886) "The Model Authoress" (1887) "My Experience With Christian Science" (1887)