LUNDEN, Joan 1950-

PERSONAL: Born Joan Elise Blunden, September 9, 1950, in Fair Oaks, CA; daughter of Erle Murray (a physician) and Gladyce Lorraine (Somervill) Blunden; married Michael Krauss (a television producer), September 10, 1978 (divorced, 1992); married Jeff Konigsberg (a summer camp owner), 2000; children: (first marriage) Jamie Beryl, Lindsay Leigh, Sarah Emily; (second marriage) Kate Elizabeth, Max Aaron. Education: Attended Universidad de Las Americas, 1968-72; American River Junior College, A.A., 1972.

ADDRESSES: Home—CT. Agent—Debra Goldfarb, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825.

CAREER: Motivational speaker, writer, television host and producer. Joni Lisa Charm and Modeling School of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, owner and manager, 1972-73; KCRA-TV and KCRA-Radio, Sacramento, co-anchor and producer, 1973-75; WABC-TV, New York, NY, reporter for Eyewitness News, 1975-80, co-anchor of weekend newscasts, 1976-80; ABC-TV, New York, NY, co-host of Good Morning America, 1980-97, host of television specials, Behind Closed Doors, 1994-99; Arts & Entertainment Network, New York, NY, host and producer, Behind Closed Doors, 2000—. Has also appeared on numerous television programs and in videos, including Joan Lunden Workout America.

MEMBER: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (national spokesperson).

AWARDS, HONORS: Outstanding Mother of the Year, National Mother's Day Committee, 1982-83; Spirit of Achievement Award, Albert Einstein College of Yeshiva University; Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Outstanding Women's Awards Speaker; National Women's Political Caucus Award; New Jersey Division on Civil Rights Award; Baylor University Outstanding Woman of the Year Award; Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications, 1991.

WRITINGS:

(With Ardy Friedburg) Good Morning, I'm Joan Lunden, Putnam (New York, NY), 1986.

(With first husband, Michael Krauss, and Sue Castle) Joan Lunden's Mothers Minutes, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1986.

(With Michael Krauss and Sue Castle) Your Newborn Baby: Everything You Need to Know, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Laura Morton) Joan Lunden's Healthy Cooking, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1996.

(With Laura Morton) Joan Lunden's Healthy Living: A Practical, Inspirational Guide to Creating Balance in Uour Life, Crown (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Andrea Cagan) Joan Lunden's A Bend in the Road Is Not the End of the Road: Ten Positive Principles for Dealing with Change, Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

Wake-Up Calls: Making the Most out of Every Day, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 2001.

Author of syndicated column, Parent's Notes.

ADAPTATIONS: Wake-Up Calls: Making the Most out of Every Day, was adapted for audio cassette.

SIDELIGHTS: For nearly twenty years Joan Lunden was the co-host of Good Morning America for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC-TV). To her legions of fans, Lunden presented the positive image of a working mother who could balance parenting, television duties, and daring physical feats such as bungee jumping and mountain-climbing. As the celebrity host of such a visible network show, Lunden experienced a certain on-air intimacy with her viewers and thus used her own personal experiences at times to illustrate the triumphs and vicissitudes of motherhood, marriage and divorce, weight loss, and physical fitness. This same intimacy is an ingredient in her nonfiction books that deal with such topics as nutrition, self-image, personal philosophy, and child-rearing.

Born and raised in California, Lunden began her broadcasting career as a reporter for KCRA-TV in Sacramento. She signed with ABC-TV in 1975 and began her career there as a newscaster. She joined the staff of Good Morning America in 1980 and was the show's indefatigable co-host until 1997, when she left her spot without rancor to host and produce television specials. Since then she has worked in her Behind Closed Doors series and has enjoyed a lucrative secondary career as a motivational speaker and author. People reviewer Jennifer Wulff noted that a typical Lunden title "offers a helping hand to anyone in need of encouragement."

One of Lunden's earliest books, Good Morning, I'm Joan Lunden, is an autobiography which tells of her association with ABC and Good Morning America. She describes how she survived the industry at a time when women were given on-air jobs simply for their looks and fired quickly if the ratings dropped; she was able to use her intelligence and quick-thinking to overcome coworkers who thought she was a no-talent "Barbie" and attracted the attention of network executives. Lunden gives a behind-the-scenes look at network television and some of its personalities as well as glimpses into her personal life. David Owen in the New Republic commented: "Lunden and her coauthor have a . . . feel for narrative. . . . Lunden's life story is genuinely interesting, even a little inspiring."

When Lunden's children from her first marriage were very young, she authored several titles on motherhood and baby care, including Your Newborn Baby: Everything You Need to Know. Later, when she needed to lose weight and increase her physical stamina, she released Joan Lunden's Healthy Cooking and Joan Lunden's Healthy Living: A Practical, Inspirational Guide to Creating Balance in Your Life. People writer Alex Tresniowsky called Joan Lunden's Healthy Cooking, "one lively cookbook. . . . [It] amounts to a blue print for anyone determined to reinvent themselves." Booklist contributor Sue-Ellen Beauregard noted that Joan Lunden's Healthy Living is "upbeat and chatty" while presenting its suggestions for health and well being "in a most readable fashion."

Since she left Good Morning America Lunden has written books that encourage readers to embrace change and to move through transitional periods with strength and calm. A Bend in the Road Is Not the End of the Road: Ten Positive Principles for Dealing with Change is based very closely on the insights she gained into herself after being told she was being taken off the morning television show. A similar spirit animates Wake-Up Calls: Making the Most out of Every Day, a collection of aphorisms and short passages of inspirational writing that Lunden had collected over many years. In a Booklist review of Wake-Up Calls, Nancy Spillman concluded that Lunden's "personal touch adds zest to the mix."

In 2003 Lunden and her husband, Jeff Konigsberg, became parents of twins born to a surrogate mother. Lunden continues to produce and host Behind Closed Doors specials for the Arts & Entertainment network.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 1997, Sue-Ellen Beauregard, review of Joan Lunden's Healthy Living: A Practical Inspirational Guide to Creating Balance in Your Life, p. 1274; September 1, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Joan Lunden's A Bend in the Road Is Not the End of the Road: Ten Positive Principles for Dealing with Change, p. 4; September 1, 2000, Ilene Cooper, review of Wake-Up Calls: Making the Most out of Every Day, p. 4; June 1, 2001, Nancy Spillman, review of Wake-Up Calls, p. 1906.

Good Housekeeping, January, 1998, Joanna Powell, "'I Was Addicted to Security,'" p. 84; November, 1998, Joan Lunden, "Letting Go," p. 114.

Library Journal, April 15, 1997, Lisa S. Wise, review of Joan Lunden's Healthy Living: A Practical, Inspirational Guide to Creating Balance in Your Life, p. 102; October 15, 1998, January Adams, review of Joan Lunden's A Bend in the Road Is Not the End of the Road, p. 86; June 1, 1999, Nann Blaine Hilyard, review of Joan Lunden's A Bend in the Road Is Not the End of the Road, p. 207.

New Republic, March 30, 1987, p. 35.

People, May 6, 1996, Alex Tresniowski, review of Joan Lunden's Healthy Cooking, p. 30; June 9, 1997, "Sunrise, Sunset: After 17 Years as Co-host, Joan Lunden Decides to Leave ABC's Troubled 'Good Morning America', " p. 58; November 13, 2000, Jennifer Wulff, review of Wake-Up Calls, p. 53; March 10, 2003, Jill Smolowe, "Teaming with Love: Thanks to Surrogate Deborah Bolig, TV Host Joan Lunden Prepares to Parent Twins at 52," p. 88.

Publishers Weekly, October 5, 1998, review of Joan Lunden's A Bend in the Road Is Not the End of the Road, p. 63.*