Ellen Peck

Ellen Peck (1942–1995) was an American feminist, writer, and childfree activist.

Early life and career as a "Teen Expert"

Born Ellen Remsburg to C. M. and Genevieve Remsburg of Normal, Illinois, Peck attended University High School there and graduated in 1960. A high achiever, she took leading roles in her school's political, acting and debate arenas.

After finishing college, Peck became an eighth-grade English teacher at Pimlico Junior High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was briefly known for wearing skirts so short they would not have been allowed on students.^[1] In 1969, however, she became rather more widely famous for writing a teenage girl's guide to romance, health, fashion, and beauty called, humorously,How to Get a Teen-Age Boy, and What to Do With Him When You Get Him,^[2] a sort of Sex and the Single Girl for teens. At the time the book was taken seriously, but later Ms. Peck claimed it was written merely as "humor"^[3] and it is usually missing from subsequent lists of her books. The book was quite popular, selling more than 50,000 copies in hard-cover,^[4] and during the 1970s she wrote an advice column for teen-agers, called "The Column," which appeared in The Baltimore Sun and was nationally syndicated.^[5] She subsequently wrote another book providing contraceptive information and called Sex and Birth Control: a Guide for the Young (1973; rev. ed. 1981), with E. James Lieberman, M.D.

Later career as a childfree advocate

In 1971, along with William Granzig she wrote The Baby Trap, one of the first books about the emerging childfree movement. In 1972, Peck and Shirley Radl founded the National Organization for Non-Parents (N.O.N.), an advocacy organization for men and women who choose not to have children. She later wrote several more books on parenthood and was, for a time, a rather prominent childfree advocate, even appearing on The Tonight Show where she exchanged views with Joe Namath.^[6]

Personal life

Ms. Peck was married in 1965 to William Peck,^[7] head of an advertising agency in Baltimore.^[8] She never had children and eventually divorced. She died of cancer on March 15, 1995 in New York.^[9]

Books

• How to Get a Teen-Age Boy, and What to Do With Him When You Get Him, (ISBN 978-0870350122)(1969).
• The Baby Trap, (ISBN 978-0523009032)(1971), with William Granzig
• Sex and Birth Control: a Guide for the Young (1973; rev. ed. 1981; Spanish tr.), with E. James Lieberman, M.D.
• Pronatalism: The Myth of Mom and Apple Pie (ISBN 0-690-00498-2)(1974), an anthology of anti-natalist writings co-edited by Judith Senderowitz
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Equality (ISBN 0-13-345512-2)(1975), with William Granzig
• The Joy of the Only Child (ISBN 0-440-04262-3)(1977)
• The Parent Test: How to Measure and Develop Your Talent for Parenthood (ISBN 0399120300)(1978), with William Granzig.

References

External links

• What's Your Guy-Q by Ellen Peck.
• Cover art for "How to Get a Teen-Age Boy, and What to Do With Him When You Get Him"
• The Baby Trap archived e-book.