SYLVIA PORTER
Name: Sylvia Porter
Born: 18 June 1913
Died: 5 June 1991
Sylvia Field Porter (18 June 1913 - 5 June 1991) was an American economist and
journalist. At the height of her career, her readership was greater than 40
million people.
Born Patchogue, New York, on Long Island as Sylvia Field Feldman, she aspired to
be an author at the age of six. Originally majoring in English literature, she
switched to economics and finance after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It has
been suggested that her fiancee, bank employee Reed Porter, was relying upon
Sylvia to explain the complications of the worldwide financial panic. They
were married in 1931.
She graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in 1932, and her expertise in
government bonds enabled her to get a job as assistant to the president of an
investment counseling firm. Working 12 hour days, she quickly learned more about
the bond market, currency fluctuations and movements of the price of gold.
In her spare time, she pursued an MBA at New York university.
Starting in 1934 as "S.F. Porter", she published a newsletter devoted
exclusively to U.S. government bonds, and was able to persuade the New York Post
to hire her to write a thrice-weekly financial column.
From there, she began writing a financial column for American Banker, and
published How To Make Money in Government Bonds, the first book to cover all
phases of government finance as well as to explain it in plain language. This
was followed by If War Comes to the American Home, which relied upon simple
language and interesting anecdotes to explain national defense to the average
reader. In 1938, S.F. Porter became financial editor for the Post. It was not
until 1942 that most of Porter's avid readers learned that their most trusted
financial wizard was not a wise old man, but an attractive 29 year old woman.
The Post had concluded, correctly, that the widely-respected columnist would be
accepted regardless of gender. The "revelation" paved the way for Sylvia Porter
to go on the radio, and the program What Can I Do? began regular broadcast from
New York's WJZ.
In 1959, Porter received her doctorate in literature from Bates College. She
continued to add to her bibliography of bestsellers about the world of finance.
In 1975, she published Sylvia Porter's Money Book, subtitled "How to Earn It,
Spend It, Save It, Invest It, Borrow It and Use It to Better Your Life". After
43 years with the Post, she hired on with the New York Daily News in 1978. From
1984 to 1987, she had 400,000 subscribers to her magazine, Sylvia Porter's
Personal Finance. Her final work was Your Finances in the 1990s. She died on
June 5, 1991, in Pound Ridge, New York.
Name: Sylvia Porter
Born: 18 June 1913
Died: 5 June 1991
Sylvia Field Porter (18 June 1913 - 5 June 1991) was an American economist and
journalist. At the height of her career, her readership was greater than 40
million people.
Born Patchogue, New York, on Long Island as Sylvia Field Feldman, she aspired to
be an author at the age of six. Originally majoring in English literature, she
switched to economics and finance after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It has
been suggested that her fiancee, bank employee Reed Porter, was relying upon
Sylvia to explain the complications of the worldwide financial panic. They
were married in 1931.
She graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in 1932, and her expertise in
government bonds enabled her to get a job as assistant to the president of an
investment counseling firm. Working 12 hour days, she quickly learned more about
the bond market, currency fluctuations and movements of the price of gold.
In her spare time, she pursued an MBA at New York university.
Starting in 1934 as "S.F. Porter", she published a newsletter devoted
exclusively to U.S. government bonds, and was able to persuade the New York Post
to hire her to write a thrice-weekly financial column.
From there, she began writing a financial column for American Banker, and
published How To Make Money in Government Bonds, the first book to cover all
phases of government finance as well as to explain it in plain language. This
was followed by If War Comes to the American Home, which relied upon simple
language and interesting anecdotes to explain national defense to the average
reader. In 1938, S.F. Porter became financial editor for the Post. It was not
until 1942 that most of Porter's avid readers learned that their most trusted
financial wizard was not a wise old man, but an attractive 29 year old woman.
The Post had concluded, correctly, that the widely-respected columnist would be
accepted regardless of gender. The "revelation" paved the way for Sylvia Porter
to go on the radio, and the program What Can I Do? began regular broadcast from
New York's WJZ.
In 1959, Porter received her doctorate in literature from Bates College. She
continued to add to her bibliography of bestsellers about the world of finance.
In 1975, she published Sylvia Porter's Money Book, subtitled "How to Earn It,
Spend It, Save It, Invest It, Borrow It and Use It to Better Your Life". After
43 years with the Post, she hired on with the New York Daily News in 1978. From
1984 to 1987, she had 400,000 subscribers to her magazine, Sylvia Porter's
Personal Finance. Her final work was Your Finances in the 1990s. She died on
June 5, 1991, in Pound Ridge, New York.