"[2][4][5] Born in Fort Worth, Texas,[1][4] Bowles married Marshal (Mike) Holman Cruse, a United States Air Force captain[4] (later colonel) in 1946.
While at a party she mentioned her wish to start a newspaper column where housewives could share hints.
A colonel with two degrees in journalism laughed and bet her $10 she couldn’t get a newspaper job, for she was "nothing but a housewife."
The next day she went to the offices of the Honolulu Advertiser and convinced the editor to try her column on a 30-day, no-pay basis.
[1][4] In 1961, King Features syndicated it as "Hints from Heloise";[4] nearly 600 newspapers carried the column,[1] and, at the time of her death, it was one of three most popular (in terms of syndication) in the United States.