Jane Temple Howard (May 4, 1935–June 27, 1996) was an American journalist, author, and educator. She worked at ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine from 1956 to 1972. She contributed articles to many publications and wrote several books; most well-known was her biography of

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

Biography

Family

Howard was born in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, but raised in Winnetka. Her father, Robert Pickrell Howard, (1905-1989) was a historian, a political newsreporter and correspondent for the ''Chicago Tribune'' for nearly three decades. Her mother, Eleanor, died in 1971, when Jane was in her mid-thirties; her father remarried later, to Elizabeth Thomas (Appel). She had one sister, Ann and one brother, Henry. In her 1978 book, "Families," she wrote:

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.

Education

Howard attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, graduating in 1956, with her bachelor's degree. She was awarded two honorary degrees, a

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

from

Grinell College Grinnell College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalists from New England established Iowa College. It has an open curriculum, which means students need n ...

in 1979 and a Doctor of Humane Letters, from

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

in 1984. As a student, she worked as a reporter and editor for the university newspaper.

Career

Howard joined Time-Life as a trainee at age 21. She worked for ''

'' magazine from 1956 until 1972 as a reporter, assistant editor, associate editor, and staff writer. Some of her work included interviews with novelists,

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

, (pen name Vladimir Sirin)

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

, Pulitzer prize-winning author

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

, and

Jacqueline Susann Jacqueline Susann (August 20, 1918 – September 21, 1974) was an American novelist and actress. Her novel ''Valley of the Dolls (novel), Valley of the Dolls'' (1966) is one of the List of best-selling books, best-selling books in publishing his ...

, author of "Valley of the Dolls.

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 ...

, in a brief biography, lists her teaching career, as a '"visiting lecturer at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

Writers' Workshop (Fall 1974), the University of Georgia School of Journalism (Spring 1975),

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

English Department (Spring 1976), and the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

Albany English Department (Winter 1978)"' and '"was a John Steinbeck Writer-in-Residence at

Southampton College Southampton College, formerly known as Southampton City College, is a general further education college located in Southampton, Hampshire, England. There has been a school of some kind on the site since the 1930s, but the current institution o ...

(Summer 1982), and a James Thurber Writer-in Residence at Ohio State University (Fall 1986)."' In 1989, she was a contributing editor for the monthly women's magazine, '' Lear's'', and conducted interviews that were published in the monthly column, "A Woman for Lear's." As a freelance writer, Howard wrote articles, published in numerous periodicals including, ''Smithsonian'', ''Esquire'', ''

The Washington Post Book World ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', '' Mademoiselle'', and ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

''. Howard taught non-fiction writing workshops at the Split Rock Arts Program at the University of Minnesota (Summer, 1989 and 1990); she also taught creative writing at Columbia University, during the 1990s.

Death

Howard died at her home in Manhattan, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. She was survived by her sister, Ann Condon.

Selected works

Columbia University Libraries, maintains a collection of her works in their archives including correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, notes, journals, scrapbooks, audio tapes, datebooks and calendars, photographs, printed material, memorabilia, and files containing information about articles that she researched and wrote while on the staff of Life magazine.

Articles

* ''Close-up/Marianne Moore, 79, keeps going like sixty'', Detached from : Life, vol. 62, no. 2, January 13, 1967 (in book format)

Books

* ''Please Touch: a guided tour of the human potential movement'', McGraw-Hill, 1st ed.,1970, * ''A Different Woman'', 1st ed., Dutton, 1973, * ''Families'', Transaction Publications, 1998, ©1978, * ''Margaret Mead: a life'', Fawcet Crest, 1985, At the time of her death, Howard was writing a book under the working title ''Heartland''.

References

External links

List of Jane Howards' books
in

GoodReads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Jane 1935 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American anthropology writers American family and parenting writers American feminist writers Journalists from New York City American motivational writers Women motivational writers American spiritual writers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Columbia University faculty Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) Life (magazine) people University of Georgia faculty University of Michigan alumni Journalists from Chicago Writers from Springfield, Illinois Yale University faculty 20th-century American journalists American women non-fiction writers American women academics