Printable Biography of Lenore Skenazy

Lenore Skenazy is an op-ed columnist at The New York Sun and Advertising Age. Her often cheery, sometimes chiding pieces look at everything from politics to family life to the strange times we live in – a time that has brought us six different flavors of Wheat Thins, vitamin water for dogs, and, for toddlers, the “Thudguard” -- a helmet to protect against brain injury as they learn to walk.

As you might guess, Skenazy covers topics overlooked by most op-ed columnists, including things like, “My Dollar Store Addiction,” and “Don’t Call Me From Your Car Just Because You’re Bored.” Still, she also turns her attention to more serious matters, ranging from the proliferation of bioterrorism research labs (which she sees as a menace) to the proliferation of cell phone porn (ditto).

In all her writing, Skenazy sees herself not as a pundit, but as a normal, curious, often amused but just as often fed-up, middle-aged mom out to get the facts. Her observations can be heard on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” she has written for Mad Magazine and she co-authored “The Dysfunctional Family Christmas Songbook” from Random House. She also spent several years as an on-air (younger, cuter) Andy Rooney, first at CNBC and then at the Food Channel.

Strangely enough, Skenazy also has the distinction of being, “New York’s Contest Queen,” having created and run a weekly humor contest at Advertising Age for five years and another one at The New York Daily News for seven.

Her column, syndicated by Creators, runs in over 100 papers, and she is available for speaking engagements. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two extremely pre-teen sons.