The True Story of the Dallas Secretary Who Invented Liquid Paper The founder of the office staple started out as a single mother trying to make her life at work a little easier. By Peter Simek Published in FrontBurner April 27, 2021 12:13 pm Spoiler alert: the contents of this blog post will answer one of the trivia questions in the May edition of D Magazine. It has to do with Liquid Paper and the Dallas secretary who invented it. Her name was Bette Nesmith — later Bette Nesmith Graham — a single mom who, in 1956, tried to find a simple way to make her life at work easier.