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Day Five of Favorite Fashion Editors: Marji Kunz
Another fashion editor who I am interested in learning more about is Marji Kunz of Detroit – she worked for both newspapers in the city. The Detroit Free Press includes her in an article about the newspaper’s history: “Marji Kunz — fashion writer who often surprised readers and made the fashion makeover popular — once attended a formal affair in an elegant nightgown to prove a point.” She is described this way by the API’s Carol Ann Riordan: “Marji Kunz, a fashion writer for The Detroit Free Press, inspired me when I was growing up. She didn’t cover her beat like every other fashion writer: getting swept away by clothing…
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Day Four of Favorite Fashion Editors: Marian Christy
One of the most significant fashion reporters of the 1960s and early 1970s was Marian Christy. She started at the Boston Globe in April 1965 and her work was later picked up by the syndicate U.P.I. Her columns then ran in 104 different newspapers. She won Penney-Missouri Awards in 1966, 1968 and 1970. That is Christy sitting in the chair below at a Penney-Missouri Award ceremony. Bobbi McCallum is the Seattle women’s page journalist standing in the lace pantsuit. Christy took a progressive, sociological approach to fashion – rather than writing for advertisers. For example, she described the see-through blouse from a late-1960s Saint Laurent fashion show: “Haute couture is…
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Fashion Writers Marian Christy & Bobbi McCallum
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Day Three of Favorite Newspaper Fashion Editors: Eleni Epstein
Eleni Epstein was the fashion editor of the Washington Star for more than three decades. She was a native of Washington, D.C. who attended George Washington University and Columbia University. During World War II she began her journalism career as a copy assistant at the Washington Star and was promoted to the position of fashion editor at age 21. Her internationally syndicated articles covered the fashion markets of Milan, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. Her position as fashion editor lasted more than 35 years until 1981 when the Star ceased publication. She received many awards for her interpretive writing and her contributions to the fashion industry. In 1960 she…
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Day Two of Favorite Newspaper Fashion Editors: Judy Lunn
Judy Lunn was the fashion editor of the Houston Post – one of the four “fs” of the women’s pages. Fashion was part of her family’s history. Her grandfather was a furrier. Her aunt was a lingerie designer who created a trousseau for Elizabeth Taylor when she married Eddie Fisher and a maternity gown for Lucille Ball. Lunn won her first writing award at age nine for a story on fire prevention. And while she had a knack for writing, it was fashion that caught her interest. She graduated a year early from Hunter High School in New York City. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design to study…
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Day One of Favorite Newspaper Fashion Editors: Aileen Ryan
This week I will be blogging about my favorite newspaper fashion editors – beginning with the Milwaukee Journal’s Aileen Ryan – a three-time Penney-Missouri Award winner. During her first summer of work in 1921, Ryan attended a meeting to hear Milwaukee Journal Editor Marvin Creager say he was happy to have females on the staff because “women have cleaned up newspaper offices.” Ryan later recalled the statement made her feel as though she had been hired to use a mop. Ryan started under the editorship of women’s page journalist Elizabeth B. Moffet. Moffett had been recruited from the Kansas City Star, where she had pioneered a new method of covering…
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Pearl Harbor & Women’s Page Editor Drue Lytle
Today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Hugh Lytle was the journalist whose teletype message provided Associated Press and the world with the first account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was married to award-winning Hawaii women’s page editor Drue Lytle. Here is Hugh’s obituary. Drue is mentioned in it. I have been collecting data about Drue for the past few years. The last few months have been especially fruitful. I found the above clip which answered many questions and I also located some great letters at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection. I heard from one of Drue’s relatives a few months ago and plan to follow up.
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
