Joyce Purnick (born May 17, 1946) is an American columnist and journalist.

Biography

Purnick was born on May 17, 1946, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the daughter of Charlotte Leah and Jacob "Jack" Purnick. In 1967, she graduated with a B.A. from

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

. In 1970, she started her career as a news clerk with the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' eventually rising to chief political writer. In 1979, she accepted a position at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' focusing on

New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

New York City government The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a Mayor–council government, mayor-council system. The Mayor of New York City, mayor is electe ...

, and the New York City school system. In 1989, she served on the paper's editorial board as the paper's urban affairs analyst. In 1994, she wrote the twice weekly ''Metro Matters'' column covering local New York topics. In 1997, she was named deputy editor of the Metro department, the paper's largest section and the first woman to do so. In 1999, she returned to writing ''Metro Matters''.

Awards

*1996-97: Mike Berger Award from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's Graduate School of Journalism. *1996:

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for metropolitan reporting for an exposé on the neglect of abused children by the city's welfare system *1987:

Peter Kihss Award The Silurians Press Club, also known as The Society of the Silurians, is an American organization composed of veteran journalists based in New York City. It is one of the oldest press clubs in the country, and honors journalistic work about and w ...

for reporting on city government from the

Fund for the City of New York Fund may refer to: * Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money, or other values such as effort or time, for a project, a person, a business, or any other private or public institution ** The process of soliciting and gathe ...

*1979:

Front Page Award The Front Page Award is an award given by the Newswomen's Club of New York to honor journalistic achievement by women.Newswomen's Club of New YorkThe Front Page Awards, Retrieved August 3, 2015, "...One of the Most Prestigious Awards in Journalism. ...

from the

Newswomen's Club of New York The Newswomen's Club of New York is a nonprofit organization that focuses on women working in the media in the New York City metropolitan area. Founded in 1922 as the New York Newspaper Woman's Club, it included Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Rogers R ...

for political columns in ''New York'' magazine *1975: from the

Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practic ...

and the

for feature writing at the ''New York Post''

Books

*''Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics'' (2009)

Personal life

Purnick was married to writer and former ''New York Times'' executive editor,

Max Frankel Max Frankel (April 3, 1930 – March 23, 2025) was an American journalist who was executive editor of ''The New York Times'' from 1986 to 1994. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for his coverage of Richard Nixon's visit to China. He also brought ...

. She lives in Manhattan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purnick, Joyce 1946 births Living people American columnists The New York Times people The New York Times columnists American women columnists The New York Times editors Barnard College alumni 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American journalists