Sally Quinn

Sally Sterling Quinn (born January 7, 1941) is an American author and journalist.

Personal

Quinn was born in Savannah, Georgia to Lt. Gen. William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" Quinn (November 1, 1907-September 11, 2000) and his wife Sara Bette Williams (January 27, 1918-September 26, 2004). Both are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Her parents also had two other children, Quinn's younger sister Donna and younger brother William Jr.

Lt. Gen. Quinn was an intelligence officer and played a key role in the transition of the United States's intelligence service from the Office of Strategic Services to the Central Intelligence Agency. From 1964 to 1966 he was commander of the 7th Army in Germany.

For many years the Quinns maintained a residence on Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., where Bette Quinn was known for her cooking and entertaining. Sally Quinn reports in CC Goldwater's HBO film "Mr. Conservative" that Senator Barry Goldwater spent much time with the Quinns, often staying at their home, after his wife decided to remain in Arizona instead of coming out to D.C. while Congress was in session.

Quinn graduated from Smith College in 1963.

Quinn is married to Benjamin C. Bradlee, the former editor of the "Washington Post," her former boss. Quinn and Bradlee have one child, [Josiah] Quinn Crowninshield Bradlee who was born in 1982 when she was 41. They have acknowledged that he was born with velo-cardio-facial syndrome, and Quinn wrote of her son's learning problems and attendance at special schools in her 2006 article "What My Son Taught Me About God."

On her mother's side, she is a descendant of William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Career

Newspaper journalism

Quinn began the "Washington Post" with very little experience: reportedly called by Ben Bradlee after a report of her pajama party in celebration of the election to congress of Barry Goldwater, Jr., the job interview included the following exchange.

"Can you show me something you've written?" asked Managing Editor Benjamin Bradlee. "I've never written anything," admitted Quinn. Pause. "Well," said Bradlee, "nobody's perfect." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907745-2,00.html Sallying Forth - TIME ] ]

However, she soon demonstrated, as a reporter for the Style section, a talent for drawing out the subjects of her interviews and profiles. Henry Kissinger said, " ["Post" reporter] Maxine Cheshire makes you want to commit murder. Sally Quinn makes you want to commit suicide." A notable incident of her career was her claim that Zbigniew Brzezinski, then the National Security Adviser, jokingly opened his fly in front of a reporter, a claim that the Post retracted the following day. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912611,00.html Brzezinski's Zipper Was Up - TIME ] ]

Television journalism

In August 1973, Quinn tried her hand at television, joining CBS News reporter Hughes Rudd as co-anchors of the "CBS Morning News". ["The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television", by Wesley Hyatt (Billboard Books, 1997)] The show's anchoring team was its first disaster since debuting in 1963 -- ninety minutes before her television debut on August 6, 1973, Quinn, who never reported for television before, collapsed while trying to fight the flu. The next day, she was forced to anchor solo when Rudd's mother died. Quinn's ad libs during the show's first week also tended toward the inappropriate -- on one episode, following a report on the children of California migrant farm workers, she quipped that child labor "was how I felt when my mother and father made me clean up my room." Quinn left the "CBS Morning News" after the February 1, 1974 telecast.

Other

Quinn had a cameo role in "Born Yesterday", the 1993 remake of the 1950 romantic comedy.

Controversies

Bill Clinton

Quinn was critical of President Bill Clinton during the impeachment trial, stating that he had "fouled the nest," [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/quinn110298.htm Washingtonpost.com Special Report: Clinton Accused ] ] much to Clinton's outrageFact|date=December 2007. Quinn had a long-standing animus for the Clintons, possibly due to a perceived snub by First Lady Hillary Clinton, who declined a party invitation from Quinn. [ [http://www.salon.com/media/1998/03/09media2.html Salon | Media Circus: The (not so) mighty Quinn ] ] Regarding Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr, she wrote: [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/quinn110298.htm Washingtonpost.com Special Report: Clinton Accused ] ] "Similarly, independent counsel Ken Starr is not seen by many Washington insiders as an out-of-control prudish crusader. Starr is a Washington insider, too. He has lived and worked here for years. He had a reputation as a fair and honest judge. He has many friends in both parties. Their wives are friendly with one another and their children go to the same schools." Starr had won the gratitude of Quinn's husband Ben Bradlee in 1987, as an Appeals Court judge, by dismissing a $2 million libel suit against the Washington Post. [ [http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/1998/9812.gitlin.obsession.html TWM - The Clinton-Lewinsky Obsession/Gitlin ] ] It was also pointed out by Harry Jaffe, writing for Salon, that Quinn's condemnation of Bill Clinton's adultery rang hollow coming from someone who broke up the marriage of her boss Ben Bradlee and then went on to marry Bradlee herself. [ [http://www.salon.com/media/1998/03/09media2.html Salon | Media Circus: The (not so) mighty Quinn ] ]

Barack Obama

In early May 2007, liberal Web sites and commentators were critical of Quinn for an extensive op-ed piece published in the "Washington Post" in which she complimented herself at length for not noticing the color of his skin: "I realized that when I look at him, I don't see a person of color. I see a really smart, appealing, thoughtful person." She also expressed a lack of knowledge about his staff, despite the fact that his campaign's chief political advisor was David Axelrod and the campaign had many other experienced staffers. Quinn's comments were taken as a dismissal by one of the grandees of elite Washington political society.

Taking Communion

In June 2008, the Catholic League issued a press release highly critical of Quinn for taking communion at the funeral mass for journalist Tim Russert. [ [http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1453 Catholic League press release] , 25 June 2008.] In an "On Faith" blog posting on the "Washington Post" website, Quinn -- who is not a Catholic -- wrote that she was "determined to take [communion] for Tim, transubstantiation notwithstanding" and that she "had a slightly nauseated sensation" after taking it. [Quinn, Sally. [http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/sally_quinn/2008/06/tim_russert.html "The Faith and Joy of Russert"] , On Faith, WashingtonPost.com, 23 June 2008.] Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded that "Quinn's statement not only reeks of narcissism, it shows a profound disrespect for Catholics and the beliefs they hold dear." Since the incident, Quinn's judgment as moderator of "On Faith" has come under question by media commentators [Martin, James. [http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=C5FB0988-5056-8960-32106C4D2B7CE3D5 "Sally Quinn Takes Communion"] , America, 26 June 2008.] [Tomaso, Bruce. [http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/06/sally-quinn-holy-communion-and.html "Sally Quinn, Holy Communion, and the Catholic League"] , The Dallas Morning News, 26 June 2008.] including columnist Ramesh Ponnuru, who wrote that "if [Quinn] does not understand the affront she gave then perhaps regularly blogging about religion for a major news outlet is not the right job for her." [Ponnuru, Ramesh. [http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTJlODMyNGFmYmJiODVmOGFmMDY4MDUyNjc2ZWM0NGI= "Sally Quinn's Communion"] , National Review Online, 26 June 2008.] [ [http://remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/archive-2008-0731-remnant_news_watch_for_july_31.htm Washington Post Writer Nauseated by Eucharist] , Remnant Newspaper Online 31 July 2008. ]

arah Palin

About Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin, Quinn was quoted on the September 3rd 2008 edition of the CBS Morning Show saying "...it's interesting that here I am, supposedly part of you know, the -- what one would call the liberal elite media. That's what we've been all -- the critics of Sarah Palin have been called. And yet, taking the position that a woman with five children, including one with special needs, and a daughter who is a 17-year-old child who is pregnant and about to have a baby, probably has got to rethink her priorities. It seems to me that there is a tipping point, and I think that she's crossed the tipping point. I believe that it's going to be very difficult for her...I think this is -- this is too much.". Quinn later withdrew this comment during an interview on the Foxnews network.

Residences

East Hampton

In 1979, the Bradlee-Quinn family purchased Grey Gardens, the East Hampton mansion shown in the 1975 film of the same name. The two only stay there in the month of August. During the rest of the year it is lived in by Frances Hayward, also known as Frances Singer-Hayward. Hayward is believed to be a member of the Singer family that founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company and is married to Sir Jack Hayward, a member of one of the founding families of Freeport, Bahamas.

Maryland

Quinn's main country estate is Porto Bello Farm, which sits on the St. Mary's River in Drayden, Maryland. As reported by the "Washingtonian" magazine, Quinn has built a circular labyrinth there out of concrete. She finds walking the labyrinth contributes to her religious and spiritual contemplation.

Washington, D.C.

Quinn and her husband live in the historic Laird-Dunlop House, in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

*Quinn, Sally. "The Party: A Guide To Adventurous Entertaining." New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
*Quinn, Sally. "We're Going To Make You a Star." New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975.

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0703986|name=Sally Quinn
* [http://remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/archive-2008-0731-remnant_news_watch_for_july_31.htm Washington Post writer nauseated by Communion]