Gail Collins

Gail Collins (born November 25, 1945^[1]) is an American journalist, op-ed columnist and author, most recognized for her work with the New York Times.^[2][3] Joining the Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, from 2001 to 2007 she served as the paper's Editorial Page Editor – the first woman to attain that position.^[2] Collins writes a semi-weekly op-ed column for the Times, published Thursdays and Saturdays.^[2] In 2014 she co-authored a blog with David Brooks, "The Conversation," at NYTimes.com, featuring political commentary.^[4]

Biography

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1945 as Gail Gleason,^[1] Collins attended Seton High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) then went on to complete a B.A. in journalism at Marquette University, in 1967, and an M.A. in government at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in 1971.^[5][6]

Following graduation from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she wrote for Connecticut publications, including the Hartford Advocate,^[7] and, in 1972, founded the Connecticut State News Bureau, a news service providing coverage of the state capital and Connecticut politics.^[8] When she sold the bureau in 1977, it had grown into the largest service of its kind in the United States.^[8] As a freelance writer in the late 1970s she wrote weekly columns for the Connecticut Business Journal and was a public affairs host for Connecticut Public Television.^[8][9]

From 1982 to 1985 Collins covered finance as a reporter for United Press International.^[5][8] She wrote as a columnist for the New York Daily News from 1985 to 1991, and for Newsday, from 1991 to 1995.^[5][8]

Collins joined The New York Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board,^[6] and later as an op-ed columnist. In 2001, she was named the paper's first female Editorial Page Editor, a position she held for six years. She resigned from this post at the beginning of 2007 to take a six-month leave to focus on writing her book When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, returning to the Times as a regular columnist in July 2007.^[2]

Beyond her work as a journalist, Collins has published several books: The Millennium Book, which she co-authored with her husband, CBS News producer Dan Collins; Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics; America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines; the aforementioned When Everything Changed; and As Texas Goes: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda.^[2][10][11] She also wrote the introduction for the 50th anniversary edition of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan; the 50th anniversary edition was published in 2013.^[12]

Collins taught journalism at Southern Connecticut State University from 1977 to 1979; and from fall 2009 until at least 2012 she co-taught (with Seth Lipsky) an opinion writing course in Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.^[10] She occasionally appears alongside her New York Times colleague David Brooks as a fill-in for Mark Shields on PBS Newshour's Political Wrap. She has been a frequent guest on NPR^[13] and on the radio talk show of Jon Wiener in Southern California.^[14]

Bibliography

• With Dan Collins: The Millennium Book. Main Street Books. 1990. ISBN 0-385-41165-0. 
• America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines. William Morrow and Company. 2003. ISBN 0-06-018510-4. 
• Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics. William Morrow and Company. 1998. ISBN 0-688-14914-6. 
• When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. Little, Brown and Company. 2009. ISBN 0-316-05954-4. 
• As Texas Goes...: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda. New York: Liveright Publishing Corp., 2012. ISBN 978-0-87140-407-7
• "Introduction" (2013), in: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique. 50th anniversary edition. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-063790.

References

External links

• Gail Collins' page at the New York Times
• Gail Collins author page at W.W. Norton
• Gail Collins page at NPR
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Booknotes interview with Collins (December 14, 2003), concerning her book, America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines