Eileen Ogintz
Eileen Ogintz's 3-year-old son, Matt, once pushed a hapless kitten into the pond at a Wisconsin cottage her family had rented for the weekend. "I thought the kitty wanted to go swimming," Matt explained. The furious owner insisted they pack up and leave immediately. The embarrassed parents drove home four hours to Chicago in a downpour, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Eileen Ogintz was a national news correspondent for the Chicago Tribune then. The Tribune's travel editor encouraged her to write a story about her son and the Wisconsin cat. That story led to others and soon Eileen's family-oriented travel pieces evolved into the nationally syndicated weekly column "Taking the Kids."
The Taking the Kids series of travel guides for children and the book "Are We There Yet?: A Parent's Guide to Fun Family Vacations," which won a Parents' Choice Award, followed, along with numerous books, including her two latest, "A Kid's Guide to New York City" and "A Kid's Guide to Cruising Alaska," both co-written with her daughter, Reggie Yemma.
"Taking the Kids," which is syndicated by Tribune Media Services, appears in major U.S. newspapers and on Websites like CNN.com and is the only national family travel column in the country. The column has won several national awards, including most recently the John Southam Award.
Today, Ogintz contributes to numerous national publications and has appeared on "Today," "Good Morning America" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She is often asked to speak on family travel and how those in the travel business can best meet families' needs.
Ogintz, a 20-plus year veteran of the newspaper business, holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and has taught journalism at Northwestern University, New York University, Colorado College and Quinnipiac University. She lives in Connecticut.
Eileen Ogintz Samples
Taking the Kids -- When Junior Foodies Are Along
Forget chicken nuggets. Really.
Taking the Kids -- To a Different Kind of National Mark Mesa Verde National Park
There's no time to be nervous. Imagine if you could only get into your office or house via toeholds carved into rock.
Taking the Kids -- To Nantucket
Uh-oh. The two pups on the beach are so excited to see one another that they knock over the 6-year-old playing nearby, spewing sand everywhere in the process. But mom Whitney Penrose doesn't miss a beat and her son Wyatt just grins.
Taking the Kids -- RVing in Colorado
Finally, we're off!
8/5/10 Taking the Kids Revised
The 8/5 Taking the Kids column has been revised to correct a web address.
8/5/10 Taking the Kids Revised
The 8/5 Taking the Kids column has been revised to correct a web address.
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