Mike Aldren wrote (On January 21, 2010): Sad to report that 1950s lady wrestler Ida Mae Martinez Selenkow passed away in Maryland on Monday at the age of 78. She led an inspirational life. After being abandoned by her mother, she ran away from abusive guardians and dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen. Selenkow then married at age 17. She recalled: “I had gotten married at seventeen in Connecticut, and we decided to head to Houston, Texas at the suggestion of a friend of my ex-husband since we needed jobs. We went to the five and ten store and bought a 26-inch suitcase for $4.99, then bought one-way bus tickets to Houston. We both got jobs at the Lone Star Comforter Manufacturing Co. I didn’t like it, so I got a job at a small cafe in the Alameda area of Houston. I was a hard worker and moved fast. A wrestler, his wife and little girl came in for lunch and dinner occasionally. His name was Larry King, kind of a local guy. One day when they came in, he said to me, ‘Would you like to wrestle?’ I said yes… and I don’t know why. I didn’t realize it, but I had always been wrestling with life, the guys at school or anybody who wanted to fight.”