Dean King celebrates China’s first feminists.

Agata Schoenborn

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With four sisters, four daughters (from left, Nora, Hazel, Grace, and Willa) and a dog named Rosie, it was high time the author/historian tackled a women’s adventure story. Out this month, Dean’s long awaited Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival, retraces China’s Long March. Thirty women were among the 86,000 Communists who embarked on the treacherous 4,000-mile journey in 1934. One year and 4,000 miles later, fewer than 10,000 soldiers—and all 30 women—survived. “They marched to end brutal practices like foot binding, arranged marriages and domestic slavery. They were tough and talented—several gave birth on the march, leaving their newborns with local families to continue the fight.” Hear their story when Dean joins the Junior League of Richmond’s 65th Annual Book & Author Dinner, coming May 4.

What do you like about wearing a skirt? “I trekked the Snowy Mountains of Tibet to experience these women’s suffering. Throwing on a skirt? No problem.”

What do you like about reading skirt!?  “A guy gets tired of box scores and needs a reminder of style, beauty, grace, humor and matters of taste. Skirt does that, really.”