BRINLEY, Maryann B(ucknum) 1949-

PERSONAL: Born May 6, 1949, in Trenton, NJ; children: Zachary, one other child. Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.A. (cum laude), 1970.

ADDRESSES: Home—167 Cooper Ave., Upper Montclair, NJ 07043. Agent—Agnes Birnbaum, Bleecker Street Associates, Inc., 88 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012.

CAREER: WPSX-TV, State College, PA, writer, 1970-71; Ladies' Home Journal, New York, NY, assistant articles editor, 1972-75; Good Housekeeping, New York, NY, associate features editor and cartoon editor, 1975-76, associate articles editor, 1976-77; Family Health, New York, NY, senior editor, 1977-78, contributing editor, beginning 1978. Former director, Good Housekeeping Infants and Children Laboratory.

WRITINGS:

(With Sanford Matthews) Through the Motherhood Maze: Survival Lessons for Loving Mothers from an Outspoken Children's Doctor, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1982.

Maternity Style: How to Look Your Best When You're at Your Biggest, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1985.

(With Jacqueline Cochran) Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

(With Kay Willis) Are We Having Fun Yet?: The 16 Secrets of Happy Parenting, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Howard Berk) The Everything Pregnancy Book: What Every Woman Needs to Know—Month-by-Month—to Insure a Worry-Free Pregnancy, Adams Media (Avon, MA), 1999, 2nd edition published as The Everything Pregnancy Book, 2003.

(With Tamara Hill) Fat Chat with Tamara: How I Lost 100 Pounds and You Can Too, Contemporary Books (Lincolnwood, IL), 2000.

Ah Mom—Oh Boy: The Art of Mothering a Teenage Son, Three Rivers (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to Woman's Day Make Yourself Beautiful, and to periodicals, including Family Weekly, Family Circle, Woman's World, Everywoman, Redbook, and Self. Author of "Check-Ups," a monthly column in Family Health, 1977-78. Editor in chief of Woman, 1981-82; editorial director of New Mother News, 1982—.

SIDELIGHTS: The former director of the Good Housekeeping Infants and Children Laboratory and an experienced writer for a number of women's magazines, Maryann B. Brinley has focused much of her writing on the subject of motherhood and pregnancy. Reviewers have praised her no-nonsense, straightforward approach to these issues, as well as her nonjudgmental tone. For example, in The Everything Pregnancy Book, which was originally published in 1999 and revised in 2003, Brinley and coauthor Dr. Howard Berk offer clear explanations of everything from anatomy and prenatal care to the actual birth, early months of child care, and emotional and psychological issues women face while pregnant and experiencing motherhood for the first time. "Here is a book that is straightforward, personal, accurate and informative," declared Jill Cohen in Midwifery Today. Cohen concluded that "overall this book does include just about 'everything'! I recommend this for parents and also for practitioners to have in their handout library."

Brinley, a mother herself, has also written parenting books, such as Are We Having Fun Yet?: The 16 Secrets of Happy Parenting. Cowritten with the founder of Mothers Matter, Kay Willis, the book is an informal discussion between Willis and Brinley offering tips on how to do more than just survive being a mother. The main thesis, explained a Publishers Weekly contributor, is that "parenting should be enjoyed, not endured."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Library Journal, May 15, 1985, Susan B. Hagloch, review of Maternity Style: How to Look Your Best When You're at Your Biggest, p. 64; August 20, 1987, William A. McIntyre, review of Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography, p. 119.

Midwifery Today, summer, 2002, Jill Cohen, review of The Everything Pregnancy Book: What Every Woman Needs to Know—Month-by-Month—to Insure a Worry-Free Pregnancy, p. 66.

New York Times Book Review, August 16, 1987, Anna Shapiro, review of Jackie Cochran, p. 17.

Publishers Weekly, August 6, 1982, review of Through the Motherhood Maze: Survival Lessons for Loving Mothers from an Outspoken Children's Doctor, p. 60; April 19, 1985, Sally A. Lodge, review of Maternity Style, p. 74; June 19, 1987, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of Jackie Cochran, p. 110; April 21, 1997, review of Are We Having Fun Yet?: The 16 Secrets of Happy Parenting, p. 67.*