Collins, Gail
The Irish Americans
Gail Collins is an author, a journalist, a columnist, and in 2001 became the first woman to be appointed editor of The New York Times editorial page. Her work at the Times began in 1995, when she signed on as a member of the editorial board and later as an op-ed columnist. Prior to that, Collins worked as a columnist at New York Newsday and the New York Daily News, and as a reporter for United Press International.
Her journalism career began in Connecticut, where she founded the Connecticut State News Bureau to provide coverage of the state capital and Connecticut politics.
Collins is also a prolific writer who took a six-month leave from the Times in 2007 to finish a sequel to her 2003 book "America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines." The 556-page volume is packed with history and storytelling from 1587 to 1970, and includes valuable insight on the struggles of Irish immigrant women in the 1800s.
Collins also wrote 1998’s "Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics" and 1991’s "The Millennium Book," a project co-authored with her husband Dan Collins, an editor at CBS News. Born Gail Gleason in 1945, Collins traces her Irish roots to both her maternal and paternal ancestry. Her mother Rita, to whom Collins dedicated "America’s Women," kept Irish stories and traditions alive in their household. Collins remains at the Times as a columnist, and her new book focuses on American women since 1960
.
Return to Global 100
