Ellen Willis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ellen Willis
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Ellen Willis at the Village Voice in the late 1970s
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| Born |
Ellen Jane Willis
December 14, 1941 New York City, New York, U.S.
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| Died | November 9, 2006 (aged 64) Queens, New York, U.S.
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| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse(s) | Stanley Aronowitz |
Ellen Willis (born December 14, 1941 – died November 9, 2006) was an American writer, journalist, and activist. She was known for her strong opinions and for writing about important social issues. She also became a famous critic of pop music.
In 2014, a book of her writings called The Essential Ellen Willis won a special award for criticism.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ellen Willis was born in Manhattan, a part of New York City. She grew up in other parts of the city, like the Bronx and Queens. Her father worked as a police officer in New York City.
Ellen went to Barnard College for her first degree. Later, she studied at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she learned about different types of literature from around the world.
Career as a Writer and Critic
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Ellen Willis became the first pop music critic for New Yorker magazine. This was a big deal because not many women were writing about music back then.
She also wrote for many other well-known magazines and newspapers. These included the Village Voice, The Nation, and Rolling Stone. She even wrote for online magazines like Slate and Salon.
Before she passed away, Ellen Willis was a professor at New York University. She taught journalism and led a center focused on cultural reporting and criticism.
Her Ideas and Activism
Ellen Willis was a strong supporter of feminism. This means she believed in equal rights and opportunities for women. She was part of a group called New York Radical Women. In 1969, she helped start another feminist group called Redstockings.
She was one of the few women who wrote about music when the field was mostly men. She started writing many important essays in 1979.
Ellen Willis believed in freedom and fairness for everyone. She didn't like it when people tried to control others too much. She also thought that cultural topics, like music and art, were very important for society. She didn't like it when people were too strict about what was "politically correct."
She also wrote about fighting prejudice against Jewish people. She even wrote an essay for Rolling Stone in 1977 about her brother's spiritual journey.
In 2006, she was working on a book about how understanding our minds can help with social and political issues.
Personal Life
Ellen Willis met her second husband, Stanley Aronowitz, in the late 1960s. He was a sociology professor. They started their relationship about ten years later. They shared household tasks equally.
Ellen Willis passed away on November 9, 2006, from lung cancer. She was survived by her husband and her daughter, Nona Willis-Aronowitz. Her daughter later edited a collection of her mother's music writings.
Legacy and Influence
Ellen Willis was friends with many other famous writers and critics. These included Robert Christgau and Greil Marcus. Many writers, like Joe Levy and Ann Powers, have said that Ellen Willis influenced their own writing styles.
Her important papers and writings are kept at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library. This library is part of Harvard University and focuses on the history of women in America.
In 2011, a book of Ellen Willis's music reviews and essays was published. It was called Out of the Vinyl Deeps. A review in The New York Times said she "celebrated the seriousness of pleasure and relished the pleasure of thinking seriously." This means she enjoyed thinking deeply about things she loved.
In April 2011, a conference was held at New York University to celebrate her writings. It was called "..., Hope, & Rock 'n' Roll: The Writings of Ellen Willis."
Her daughter edited another book, The Essential Ellen Willis, which won a major award in 2014.
Ellen Willis is also featured in a 2014 documentary film about feminist history. The film is called She's Beautiful When She's Angry.
