Post, Peggy 1945-

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Post, Peggy 1945-

PERSONAL:

Born July 29, 1945, in Washington, DC; married Alan Post, 1979; children: (stepsons) Casey and Jeep. Education: Louisiana State University, B.S. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, golf, fishing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—FL. Office—The Emily Post Institute, Inc, 444 S. Union St., Burlington, VT 05401.

CAREER:

Writer and columnist. Emily Post Institute, Burlington, VT, spokesperson, 1991—; Good Housekeeping, etiquette columnist, 1995—. Conducts lectures and seminars for businesses and community groups across the United States; also served as campaign spokesperson for numerous groups, including Florida Citrus, Merci chocolates, Tassimo Hot Beverage System, Mirassou Winery, Hit Entertainment, The National Honey Board, VistaPrint.com, Keebler, Yahoo, American Express, the Canandaigua Wine Company and SBC Communications. Has been a guest on numerous television programs, including Oprah, Live with Regis and Cathie Lee, Today Show, Dateline, CBS Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, and Good Morning America. Previously worked as international flight attendant for Pan American World Airways; seventh grade English and history teacher in New York, NY.

WRITINGS:

(Coauthor) Emily Post's Etiquette, 16th edition, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997, sole author of 17th edition, 2004.

Emily Post's Entertaining: A Classic Guide to Adding Elegance and Ease to Any Festive Occasion, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.

(Coauthor) Emily Post's Weddings, 3rd edition, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999, 5th edition published as Emily Post's Wedding Planner, 2006.

(With Peter Post) The Etiquette Advantage: Personal Skills for Success in Business, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999, 2nd edition published as Emily Post's the Etiquette Advantage in Business: Personal Skills for Professional Success, HarperResource (New York, NY), 2005.

Everyday Etiquette: Practical Advice for Social Situations at Home and on the Job, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette: Cherished Traditions and Contemporary Ideas for a Joyous Celebration, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001, 5th edition, 2005.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Emily Post's The Gift of Good Manners: A Parent's Guide to Raising Respectful, Kind, Considerate Children, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Emily Post's the Guide to Good Manners for Kids, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), 2004.

"Excuse Me, but I Was Next—": How to Handle the Top 100 Manners Dilemmas, Collins (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Emily's Everyday Manners, illustrated by Steve Bjorkman, Collins (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Emily's Magic Words, illustrated by Leo Landry, Collins (New York, NY), 2007.

Emily Post's Wedding Planner for Moms, Collins (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Teen Manners: From Malls to Meals to Messaging and Beyond, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Emily's Christmas Gifts, illustrated by Steve Bjorkman, Collins (New York, NY), 2008.

(With Cindy Post Senning) Emily's Sharing and Caring Book, illustrated by Leo Landry, HarperCollins Children's Books (New York, NY), 2008.

Columnist for Good Housekeeping and Parents magazines.

ADAPTATIONS:

Emily Post's Weddings has been adapted for audio, HarperAudio, 1999.

SIDELIGHTS:

Since marrying the great-grandson of etiquette maven Emily Post in 1979, Peggy Post has emerged as a leading expert on manners and courtesy in her own right. Through her work at the Emily Post Institute and a column for Good Housekeeping, she both carries on the traditions of Emily Post and updates them for the modern world. In a number of books, some of them cowritten with other members of the Post family, she provides straightforward, contemporary advice for those seeking answers to age-old questions and new challenges in negotiating their way through weddings, dinner parties, or the business world.

In the 75th-anniversary edition of Emily Post's Etiquette Peggy Post takes on the etiquette of call waiting, divorce protocol, and "much needed guidelines for interaction in the business world," wrote Booklist reviewer Donna Seaman. "Reflecting the changes in society, Peggy Post's style is not quite as formal as Emily Post's, but neither is it as breezy or irreverent as many of the current crop of etiquette books," noted New York Times reporter Enid Nemy.

Similarly, in The Etiquette Advantage: Personal Skills for Success in Business the author shows how to apply old-fashioned rules of courtesy and consideration to a wide range of modern business concerns, such as the proper use of e-mail, conducting a trade show, and acceptable business attire. "Because of its thoroughness, this title would be very useful as a reference source," concluded Library Journal contributor Susan Awe. In Emily Post's The Gift of Good Manners: A Parent's Guide to Raising Respectful, Kind, Considerate Children, Peggy Post and Cindy Post Senning provide guidance to busy parents trying to instill good manners in their children, covering everything from how to eat soup to dealing with bullying and cheating. Different sections deal with the very different developmental stages, from toddlers to adolescents. "This is an excellent source of ideas and inspiration for raising children to be considerate adults," noted a Publishers Weekly contributor.

Everyday Etiquette: Practical Advice for Social Situations at Home and on the Job "offers practicalities in polite bites," according to Insight on the News contributor Jennifer Harper. This time, Post offers tips on etiquette and politeness that cover a wide range of situations, from not including bad news in Christmas cards to never asking for a doggy bag at a wedding.

Post and Cindy Post Senning once again write about manners for children in their book Emily Post's the Guide to Good Manners for Kids. "Post and Senning pinpoint the three main factors in etiquette as respect, consideration, and honesty," wrote Joyce Adams Burner in the School Library Journal. In this volume, the authors cover the typical good-manner basics but also delve into the new technological world that children inhabit, offering advice that deals with computer chat rooms and emails, as well as pagers and cell phone usage. "The writing is clear, friendly, and sometimes clever," noted Burner. GraceAnne A. DeCandido wrote in Booklist that "this book has its heart in the right place."

Post and Senning also collaborated on Emily's Everyday Manners, a short, illustrated introduction to manners for young children. This time, manners lessons are set within the framework of two young characters, Emily and her friend Ethan, who go through a variety of situations in which they get to show their good manners. Booklist contributor Carolyn Phelan called Emily's Everyday Manners "one of the more approachable etiquette books available for young children."

Post addresses the most common etiquette issues and problems associated with rude and obnoxious behavior in "Excuse Me, but I Was Next—": How to Handle the Top 100 Manners Dilemmas. The book includes common "scripts" to follow in a variety of situations, from work to school to home. Deborah Ebster, wrote in the Library Journal that "the focus on universal real-life situations makes this book a classic for most etiquette collections."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 1997, Donna Seaman, review of Emily Post's Etiquette, 16th edition, p. 1267; January 1, 2005, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Emily Post's the Guide to Good Manners for Kids, p. 854; October 15, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Emily's Everyday Manners, p. 52.

Good Housekeeping, December, 1997, Kim-Van Dang, "3's Company: America's Most-Beloved Columnists Get Together for Makeovers and Coffee Talk," p. 58; February, 2003, Peggy Post, "Do the Right Thing: Peggy Post on Everyday Etiquette," p. 32.

Insight on the News, July 26, 1999, Jennifer Harper, review of Everyday Etiquette: Practical Advice for Social Situations at Home and on the Job, p. 37.

Library Journal, November 15, 1999, Susan Awe, review of The Etiquette Advantage: Personal Skills for Success in Business, p. 79; November 15, 2006, Deborah Ebster, review of "Excuse Me, but I Was Next—": How to Handle the Top 100 Manners Dilemmas, p. 77.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 12, 2006, "Over the River and through the Shoulds: Etiquette for the Social Events of the Season."

New York Times, April 20, 1997, Enid Nemy, "In an Age of Finger Food, a New Emily Post," p. 43; February 8, 1998, Karen Berman, "Q&A/Peggy Post; Etiquette on the Comeback Trail? Well, Yes."

Publishers Weekly, October 5, 1998, review of Emily Post's Entertaining: A Classic Guide to Adding Elegance and Ease to Any Festive Occasion, p. 87; July 8, 2002, review of Emily Post's The Gift of Good Manners, p. 47.

School Library Journal, December, 2004, Joyce Adams Burner, review of Emily Post's the Guide to Good Manners for Kids, p. 168; October, 2005, review of Emily Post's the Guide to Good Manners for Kids, p. 56.

Today's Parent, March, 2005, review of Emily Post's the Guide to Good Manners for Kids, p. 32.