Quinn, Jane Bryant 1939-

PERSONAL:

Born February 5, 1939, in Niagara Falls, NY; daughter of Frank Leonard and Ada Bryant; married David Conrad Quinn, June 10, 1967; children: Matthew Alexander, Justin Bryant. Education: Middlebury College, B.A., 1960.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Chappaqua, NY.

CAREER:

Insider's Newsletter, New York City, reporter, 1962-66, editor, 1967; Cowles Book Co., New York City, senior editor, 1968; Business Week Letter, New York City, editor-in-chief, 1969-72, general manager, 1973-74; Washington Post, New York City, author of syndicated financial column, 1974-2001. Business news analyst for WPIX-TV, 1973; business reporter for WCBS-TV, beginning 1979.

MEMBER:

Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Emmy Award and Janus Award, for business reporting on television; Consumer Journalism Award, National Press Club, 1981, 1982, and 1984; John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism, 1992 and 1995; Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, 1995; Gerald Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award, 1997.

WRITINGS:

Everyone's Money Book, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1979.

Making the Most of Your Money: Smart Ways to Create Wealth and Plan Your Finances in the '90s, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1991, revised edition published as Making the Most of Your Money: Completely Revised and Updated for the Twenty-first Century, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997.

A Hole in the Market, Whittle Direct Books (Knoxville, TN), 1994.

Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.

Author of a regular column in Newsweek, beginning 1978. Editor of Skilled Collector, 1966-68.

SIDELIGHTS:

Described by Sacramento Bee writer Allen O. Pierleoni as the "personal-finance guru to the nation," Jane Bryant Quinn has written several books that offer basic financial advice to ordinary consumers. Her most important recommendation: save more money. As she explained to Pierleoni, she learned this lesson in her twenties, when she was a single mother struggling to make ends meet. No matter how difficult it was to pay the bills, she still managed to save a small amount—and she continues to emphasize the importance of making savings a lifelong habit.

In Everyone's Money Book and Making the Most of Your Money: Smart Ways to Create Wealth and Plan Your Finances in the '90s—revised as Making the Most of Your Money: Completely Revised and Updated for the Twenty-first Century, Quinn demystifies the process of budgeting, investing, and planning for retirement. Her more recent title, Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, as she explains at the beginning of the book, presents "everything I've learned about handling personal money well." This includes advice on choosing savings and retirement plans, mortgages, college savings plans, life insurance, and mutual funds. Quinn helps readers figure out how to get out of debt and start saving money with each paycheck. Her strategies focus on what is simple and effective: enrolling in an employer's retirement plan, for example, as well as in automated payment options for regular expenses such as a mortgage. Because these funds are withdrawn from earnings automatically, the consumer has less cash in hand to fritter away. In a USA Today review, Kerry Hannon called Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People an "engaging, uncomplicated and sensible" book.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Akron Beacon Journal, January 8, 2006, Betty Lin-Fisher, "It's Best to Keep Finances Simple: Jane Bryant Quinn Outlines Strategies That Work over Long Haul."

American Baby, July, 1983, Steve Talante, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 24.

Booklist, September 1, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 9; August, 1991, review of Making the Most of Your Money: Smart Ways to Create Wealth and Plan Your Finances in the '90s, p. 2079; November 15, 1997, Barbara Jacobs, review of Making the Most of Your Money: Completely Revised and Updated for the Twenty-first Century, p. 528; November 1, 1998, David Rouse, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 474; March 1, 2006, Barbara Jacobs, review of Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, p. 51.

Christian Science Monitor, February 9, 1982, Martin Skala, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. B6.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, January, 1992, Jeff Kosnett, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 86.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 374.

Library Journal, April 15, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 947; March 1, 1980, Susan S. Di-Mattia, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 584; September 1, 1993, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 150; January 1, 2006, Sarah Cords, review of Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, p. 132.

Modern Office Procedures, September, 1979, Henry Holtzman, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 124.

Money, September, 1979, Carrie Tuhy, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 124; October, 1982, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 64; October, 1991, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 37.

Ms., March, 1980, Linda Lee Small, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 26.

Newsweek, June 25, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 71; September 9, 1991, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 66; March 24, 2003, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 60.

New York Times, July 10, 1980, Deborah Rankin, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. C1.

Penthouse, October, 1979, Robert Hofler, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 60.

Playboy, April, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 50.

Publishers Weekly, April 2, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 63; May 9, 1980, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 56; September 22, 1997, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. 66.

Redbook, August, 1980, David Milofsky, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 64.

Sacramento Bee, January 24, 2006, Allen O. Pierleoni, "Jane Bryant Quinn Shows Us the Money with a New Book,"

Time, December 10, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 82.

USA Today, January 17, 2006, Kerry Hannon, "‘Smart’ Simplifies Financial Strategy," p. 7.

Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1992, Stanley W. Angrist, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. A12; March 5, 1996, Stanley W. Angrist, review of Making the Most of Your Money, p. A12.

Wall Street Review of Books, summer, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. 315.

Washington Post Book World, May 27, 1979, review of Everyone's Money Book, p. G1.

ONLINE

Newsweek,http://www.newsweek.com/ (March 31, 2008), Jane Bryant Quinn profile.

NNDB,http://www.nndb.com/ (March 31, 2008), Jane Bryant Quinn profile.