Alexandra Penney
Encyclopedia
Alexandra Penney is an American
author best known for her 1982 best-selling book How to Make Love to a Man who was also an editor at Self
magazine and has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon
as a symbol for awareness of breast cancer
.
Penney attended Smith College
.
for $275,000.
came after an April 1991 lunch at the 21 Club
, at which Penney discussed ideas for articles about breast cancer with her friend Evelyn Lauder
who was then the Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies
and was also a member of the board of overseers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
.
Together with Evelyn Lauder, Penney established The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
and formalized the pink ribbon
as a symbol for breast cancer awareness as part of Self magazine's second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue in 1992. Penney's inspiration to improve on the success of the magazine's first annual issue was to create a ribbon that would be placed in Estee Lauder's New York City stores. Evelyn Lauder made the commitment to have the ribbons placed on the company's cosmetics counters across the United States.
Having been employed by the magazine since 1989, Penney left Self in July 1994 to assume the position of director of new media development at Condé Nast Publications
, in which she would be responsible for developing new opportunities in print and broadcast media for the firm. Less than a week later, Penney announced that she would stay at Self where she wanted to pursue the challenge of surpassing the magazine's records for advertising revenue and circulation that had been set during her tenure at the magazine.
neighborhood of Manhattan
, a cottage in West Palm Beach, Florida
, and what was described as a "beach shack" in Wainscott, New York
, all of which she had paid for over four decades from her earnings. While she did not disclose the amount of her losses at the advice of her lawyers, Penney indicated that she still had enough money in her checking account to last a few months. Penney wrote a series of posts on The Daily Beast
titled "The Bag Lady Papers" starting in December 2008 in which she chronicled her experiences and feelings in the wake of the Madoff scandal.
, West Palm Beach, Florida
, with her companion, painter Dennis Ashbaugh
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author best known for her 1982 best-selling book How to Make Love to a Man who was also an editor at Self
Self (magazine)
Self magazine is an American magazine for women that specializes in health, fitness, nutrition, beauty and happiness. Published by Condé Nast Publications 12 times a year, it has a circulation of 1,486,992 and a total audience of 5,541,000 readers, according to its corporate media kit. The...
magazine and has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon
Pink ribbon
The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer....
as a symbol for awareness of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
.
Penney attended Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
How to Make Love to a Man
Her 143-page long book How to Make Love to a Man became a best-seller in 1981. The book took two years for Penney to research, which included interviewing more than 200 men and reading numerous books, but her biggest challenge was writing it in a tone that would be acceptable to the mass market. Clarkson Potter gave an advance of $75,000 for the book, its largest to that time, but wanted extensive changes after Penney delivered the initial manuscript. The book was published on May 22, 1981, and had sold 130,000 copies within its first five months, and had paperback rights sold to Dell PublishingDell Publishing
Dell Publishing, an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr.During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Dell was one of the largest publishers of magazines, including pulp magazines. Their line of humor magazines included 1000 Jokes, launched in...
for $275,000.
Self magazine
Self magazine's first annual issue for National Breast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure...
came after an April 1991 lunch at the 21 Club
21 Club
The 21 Club, often simply 21, is a restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy, located at 21 West 52nd Street in New York City.-Environment:...
, at which Penney discussed ideas for articles about breast cancer with her friend Evelyn Lauder
Evelyn Lauder
Evelyn Lauder was an American socialite and philanthropist who has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon as a symbol for awareness of breast cancer....
who was then the Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies
Estée Lauder Companies
Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The company has its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
and was also a member of the board of overseers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
.
Together with Evelyn Lauder, Penney established The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide, an...
and formalized the pink ribbon
Pink ribbon
The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer....
as a symbol for breast cancer awareness as part of Self magazine's second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue in 1992. Penney's inspiration to improve on the success of the magazine's first annual issue was to create a ribbon that would be placed in Estee Lauder's New York City stores. Evelyn Lauder made the commitment to have the ribbons placed on the company's cosmetics counters across the United States.
Having been employed by the magazine since 1989, Penney left Self in July 1994 to assume the position of director of new media development at Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
, in which she would be responsible for developing new opportunities in print and broadcast media for the firm. Less than a week later, Penney announced that she would stay at Self where she wanted to pursue the challenge of surpassing the magazine's records for advertising revenue and circulation that had been set during her tenure at the magazine.
Victim of Madoff scandal
Penney had earned a substantial amount of money from her writing, almost all of which was invested with Bernie Madoff after a good friend steered her to Madoff in the 1990s assuring her that her money would be safe. As of early 2009, she owned an artist's studio in the SoHoSoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, a cottage in West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
, and what was described as a "beach shack" in Wainscott, New York
Wainscott, New York
Wainscott is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 628...
, all of which she had paid for over four decades from her earnings. While she did not disclose the amount of her losses at the advice of her lawyers, Penney indicated that she still had enough money in her checking account to last a few months. Penney wrote a series of posts on The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
titled "The Bag Lady Papers" starting in December 2008 in which she chronicled her experiences and feelings in the wake of the Madoff scandal.
Personal
Penney purchased a frame house in the Flamingo Park Historic Residential DistrictFlamingo Park Historic Residential District
The Flamingo Park Historic Residential District is a U.S. historic district located in West Palm Beach, Florida. The district is bounded by Park Place, Parker Avenue, Belvedere Road, and Florida Avenue. It contains 458 historic buildings.-External links:* at...
, West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
, with her companion, painter Dennis Ashbaugh
Dennis Ashbaugh
Dennis John Ashbaugh is an American painter and artist from New York. He is one of the first artists to employ DNA marking patterns in paintings, in his 1992 work Designer Gene. Ashbaugh's use of light and colour in his large-scale paintings of autoradiographs have drawn comparison with Mark Rothko...
.