Finding Magic: A Spiritual Memoir - Hardcover

Quinn, Sally

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062315501 ISBN 13: 9780062315502

Publisher: HarperOne, 2017

Synopsis

The author, journalist, television commentator, and longtime Washington insider reflects on the spiritual quest that has brought deeper meaning to her life—and kept her grounded within the high-powered political world of Washington, D.C.’s elite—her renowned writing career, her celebrity marriage, and her legendary role as doyenne of the capital’s social scene.

In this emotionally involving, illuminating memoir, the legendary Washington Post journalist, and author talks candidly about her life at the white-hot center of power and the surprising spiritual quest that has driven her for more than half a century.

While working as a reporter, caring for a learning-disabled son with her husband, longtime Washington Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee, reigning over the capital’s social scene, and remaining intimately connected with national politics, Sally Quinn yearned to understand what truly made the world—and her life—tick. After years of searching, most of which occurring in the secular capital of the world, she came to realize that the time she spent with friends and family—the evenings of shared hospitality and intimate fellowship—provided spiritual nourishment and that this theme has been woven into all the most important moments of her life.

In this spiritual memoir, Quinn speaks frankly about her varied, provocative spiritual experiences—from her Southern family of Presbyterians and psychics, to voodoo lessons from her Baptist nanny, her trials as a hospitalized military kid in Japan as the Korean War begins, to her adventures as a Post reporter and columnist and her experience as one of the first female news anchors on national television; her battles with the Nixon administration, Watergate, and other scandals that have rocked the nation; her courtship and long marriage to one of the most authoritative figures in the media; her role as the capital’s most influential hostess; and her growing fascination with religious issues. This fascination led to her pioneering work in creating the most visited religious site on the web, OnFaith.co, where she reports on the unseen driving force of American life.

Throughout this radiant, thoughtful, and surprisingly intimate memoir, Quinn reveals how "it’s all magic"—the many forms of what draws us together and provides meaning to all we do. Her roller coaster and irreverent but surprisingly spiritual story allows us to see how the infinite wonder of God and the values of meaningful conversation, experience, and community are available to us all.

Finding Magic includes 16 pages of exclusive photographs.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In this emotional, inviting, and illuminating memoir, Sally Quinn—journalist, television commentator, and longtime Washington insider—reveals the late-in-life discovery that her entire life could best be understood as a spiritual quest. Quinn takes us through the many stages of her spiritual awakening: summers spent as a child with her Scots Presbyterian family in the South, where she learned voodoo from the household staff; her trials as a hospitalized military child in Japan during the Korean war; her education at twenty-two different schools; her adventures as a Washington Post reporter; her short tenure as the first female network anchor on the CBS Morning News; her falling in love with the Post’s executive editor Ben Bradlee; her caring for a learning- disabled son; and her keeping vigil during her beloved husband’s illness and death. These varied and intense experiences birthed a fascination with religion that led to her creating the popular website On Faith, an online community for faith and spirituality.

Quinn’s roller-coaster, irreverent, and candid story provides a surprising lens into what it means to live life full of passion, grace, and love. Throughout this radiant, thoughtful, and startlingly intimate memoir, she brings to light how each of us—if we possess the heart and mind to look for it throughout our lives—can find magic all along the way.

About the Author

Sally Quinn is a longtime Washington Post journalist, columnist, television commentator, Washington insider, one of the capital’s legendary social hostesses, and founder of the religious website On Faith from The Washington Post. She writes for various publications and is the author of The Party: A Guide to Adventurous Entertaining, Regrets Only, Happy Endings, and We’re Going to Make You a Star, a memoir based on her experience as the first female network anchor in the United States. She lives in Washington, DC.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0062315501
• ISBN 13: 9780062315502
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432