Lenore Skenazy
Encyclopedia
Lenore Skenazy writes a nationally syndicated column that appears in more than 100 papers through the Creators Syndicate
. Her work offers commentary on everything from politics to family life to popular culture phenomena, and include My Dollar Store Addiction and Don't Call Me From Your Car Just Because You're Bored.
Skenazy was formerly a columnist for The New York Sun until it closed in 2008. She was with the New York Daily News
for fourteen years before that, but was fired in December 2006. She previously worked for NPR
and Mad Magazine. She was featured in the second episode of Bravo's series Tabloid Wars
.
She coined the phrase "Free range kids". Skenazy's April 1, 2008 column in The New York Sun described her making the controversial decision to let her 9-year-old son take the New York City subway home alone. It unleashed a flood of reactions ranging from accusations of child abuse to fond memories of first-time subway trips and childhood freedom. The story was covered on The Today Show, Fox News, and MSNBC
two days after the column appeared. Eventually newspapers and TV stations around the world covered it, too.
The incident led to the creation of the Free-Range Kids blog and the book, Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry (John Wiley & Sons
, April 2009). The subtitle was modified to Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe Self-Reliant Children Without Going Nuts with Worry with the April 2010 paperback edition.
Lenore proposed May 22, 2010 as the first Take Our Children to the Park & Leave Them There Day as a day for children to learn how to play by themselves without constant supervision.
She also co-wrote, with Carol Boswell, Who’s the Blonde that Married What’s-His-Name: The Ultimate Tip of the Tongue Test of Everything You Know You Know…But Can’t Remember Right Now (Penguin Books
, June 2009), a trivia quiz book based on the middle-aged ability to remember everything about a person, place or thing ... except its name.
In all her writing, Skenazy considers herself not a pundit, but a normal, curious, often amused but just as often fed-up mom out to get the facts.
Skenazy is a 1981 graduate of Yale University
. She lives in Queens
with her husband and two sons.
Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate is an independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns for daily newspapers. It was founded in 1987 by Richard S. Newcombe, and is based in Los Angeles. Creators was one of the first syndicates to allow its clients to maintain creative control of their material...
. Her work offers commentary on everything from politics to family life to popular culture phenomena, and include My Dollar Store Addiction and Don't Call Me From Your Car Just Because You're Bored.
Skenazy was formerly a columnist for The New York Sun until it closed in 2008. She was with the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
for fourteen years before that, but was fired in December 2006. She previously worked for NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and Mad Magazine. She was featured in the second episode of Bravo's series Tabloid Wars
Tabloid Wars
Tabloid Wars was a reality TV series that aired in the summer of 2006 on the Bravo cable network. It followed reporters and editors from the New York Daily News....
.
She coined the phrase "Free range kids". Skenazy's April 1, 2008 column in The New York Sun described her making the controversial decision to let her 9-year-old son take the New York City subway home alone. It unleashed a flood of reactions ranging from accusations of child abuse to fond memories of first-time subway trips and childhood freedom. The story was covered on The Today Show, Fox News, and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
two days after the column appeared. Eventually newspapers and TV stations around the world covered it, too.
The incident led to the creation of the Free-Range Kids blog and the book, Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry (John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
, April 2009). The subtitle was modified to Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe Self-Reliant Children Without Going Nuts with Worry with the April 2010 paperback edition.
Lenore proposed May 22, 2010 as the first Take Our Children to the Park & Leave Them There Day as a day for children to learn how to play by themselves without constant supervision.
She also co-wrote, with Carol Boswell, Who’s the Blonde that Married What’s-His-Name: The Ultimate Tip of the Tongue Test of Everything You Know You Know…But Can’t Remember Right Now (Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, June 2009), a trivia quiz book based on the middle-aged ability to remember everything about a person, place or thing ... except its name.
In all her writing, Skenazy considers herself not a pundit, but a normal, curious, often amused but just as often fed-up mom out to get the facts.
Skenazy is a 1981 graduate of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. She lives in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
with her husband and two sons.