Anna Quindlen

Biography

Anna Quindlen was born on July 8, 1952, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She entered Barnard College at age eighteen, the same year she became a copy attendant for a newspaper, and graduated in 1974. That same year, she became a reporter for the New York Post.

In 1977, Quindlen moved to The New York Times, where she initially was a general assignment and City Hall reporter. Beginning in 1981, she wrote the column “About New York,” and two years later was appointed deputy metropolitan editor. She held that position until 1985, and in 1986 began writing a weekly column entitled “Life in the 30’s.”

Quindlen published her first book, a collection of essays entitled Living Out Loud, in 1988. Her first novel, Object Lessons, a bestseller, appeared in 1991. A second novel, One True Thing (1994), served as the basis for a motion picture of the same name starring Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, and William Hurt, released in 1998.

In 1990, Quindlen became only the third woman in the history of the Times to write for the newspaper’s opinion and editorial page when she launched a new nationally syndicated column, “Public & Private.” Her work for the column earned her the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. A collection of her columns was published in book form as Thinking Out Loud in 1993, and the book made her newspaper’s bestseller list. She left the Times in 1995 to become a full-time freelance writer.

Quindlen’s third novel, Black and Blue (1998), also became a bestseller, was selected for Oprah Winfrey’s book club, and inspired a made-for-television film shown on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). She is also the author of two children’s books, The Tree That Came to Stay (1992) and Happily Ever After (1997), and she wrote the text for two photographic essays, Naked Babies (1996) and Siblings (1998). With the publication of A Short Guide to a Happy Life (2000), Quindlen became the first writer to have books appear on The New York Times bestseller list in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and self-help.

In 1999, Quindlen joined Newsweek as a contributing editor to write a biweekly column for “The Last Word.” Loud and Clear (2004) is a collection of her Newsweek and Times essays, covering significant events, work, education, and social justice.

Following the publication of Being Perfect in 2005, Quindlen's nonfiction works included Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting (2019), in which she reflects on family and aging, and Write for Your Life (2022), a book about writing, purpose, and personal growth. Meanwhile, her fiction work included Rise and Shine (2006), Every Last One (2010), Still Life with Bread Crumbs (2014), Miller’s Valley (2016), and Alternate Side (2018). In After Annie (2024), the title character suddenly dies, leaving her family and friends to move forward without her.

Quindlen has garnered many honors during her career, including honorary doctorates from Dartmouth College, Denison University, Moravian College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Columbia University awarded her the University Medal of Excellence. She was a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale University, a Victoria Fellow in Contemporary Issues at Rutgers University, and was named a fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996. Glamour magazine listed her as one of ten outstanding women of the year in 1991. She became a Barnard College trustee in 1989 and served as chairperson of the board of trustees from 2003 to 2010.

Quindlen married attorney Gerald Krovatin, and the couple had three children, Quindlen, Christopher, and Maria.

Bibliography

“Anna Quindlen.” Washington University in St. Louis Commencement Archive 2014–2019, commencement-archive.wustl.edu/people/anna-quindlen/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.

Gentile, Olivia. “Anna Quindlen’s No. 1 Rule for Grandparents: Butt Out.” The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/books/review/nanaville-anna-quindlen.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.

Newman, Catherine. “Anna Quindlen Is Back, with Four Seasons of Loss and Survival.” The New York Times, 23 Feb. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/books/review/after-annie-anna-quindlen.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.

Quindlen, Anna. “Anna Quindlen on Why Writing Is for Everyone.” The Saturday Evening Post, 7 Mar. 2023, www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/03/anna-quindlen-on-why-writing-is-for-everyone/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.

Szewczyk, Elaine. "Anna Quindlen Wants You to Get a Good Life." Publishers Weekly, 5 Jan. 2024, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/94039-anna-quindlen-wants-you-to-get-a-good-life.html. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.