Jane Bryant Quinn Revealed
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. Working hard, playing hard (and needing more sleep!)
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. Get it right. I'm always hyper-aware that I'm helping readers make choices about their money--I spend my time checking and rechecking, to be sure that what I'm saying is right.
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. It's a weekend morning. I wake up late. My husband brings me cocoa. We read the papers in bed. I may nap again. We have lunch, take a walk in Central Park and go to the museum. We meet friends, or our New York-based kids, for dinner and a movie. We go to bed early. Bliss.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. Professionally, making a mistake in something I write. When I do make an error I correct it right away and then crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. In New York City, where I live. It's a wonderful town.
- Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
- A. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a brilliant writer and suffragette.
- Q. Which living person do you most admire?
- A. Right now, it's Obama--hoping he can lead us out of this mess. But that may change... I have lots of heros and heroines
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. Got it. Cheers. You go. Anything staccato and short.
- Q. What do you regret most?
- A. Not much, I've been pretty lucky. But there have been too many times when I chose work over play.
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. Playing classical guitar.
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. I'm messy, disorganized, overbooked.
- Q. What’s your best quality?
- A. (My husband filled in this one) "She's NICE"
- Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
- A. I'd like to be a green parrot for a while, in the Amazon. They're smart birds and I'd like to fly. But not forever.
- Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
- A. I like to talk politics and public-policy stuff, sometimes noisily.
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. Brenda Starr--remember her? A reporter in a comic strip with tons of red hair, starry eyelashes, and a boyfriend with an eyepatch. She was my childhood role model.
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. None. I hate 'em all.
- Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
- A. Thrilled to meet you, Mr. Shakespeare, I'm a fan. Could you get me two tickets to Love's Labor's Lost tomorrow night?
- Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
- A. People who don't do what they say they will
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Reading in my hammock on a summer day.
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. A diva--singing Violetta at the Metropolitan Opera. Or conducting it--that would work, too.
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Honesty, kindness, smarts
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. My husband's spaghetti and coffee ice cream (but not together!)
- Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
- A. They're various arias from operas--I'm an opera nut.
On Books and Writing
- Q. How did you come to write Making The Most of Your Money?
- A. There's so much nonsense flying around about investing and personal finance--so much stuff that isn't true. With the economy in such peril and retirements at risk, I set out to offer objective information, to help readers with the money decisions they have to make. There ARE better ways! This single book covers the whole range of issues in personal finance. It's the third edition of Making the Most, rewritten from top to toe, to deal with life today.
