Jean Jennings, the former editor-in-chief of Automobile magazine and a pioneering woman in automotive journalism, passed away in December at the age of 70 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
I first met Jean not at an automotive event, but rather a dog show. She and her husband Tim were the proud owners of Bob, a champion Chesapeake Bay Retriever who when not in the conformation ring was Tim’s hunting companion. My husband knew Jean from his time working on the Mazda account; as I had just begun my research into women and cars he thought we should become acquainted. Active in the purebred dog world, my husband and I would run into Jean and Tim at various dog events where the conversation was not about cars, but rather about Bob’s chances in the Best of Breed ring. Bob’s big moment came at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York when he made the first ‘cut’ in a fine class of champion Chessies.
Jean entered the world of automotive journalism when it was very much an exclusive male fraternity. As the only girl in a family of six children, Jean no doubt understood that the way to make a place for herself among the good old boys was to be tough, outrageous, knowledgeable, and ‘one of the guys.’ Throughout automotive history, women have been required to develop unique strategies in order to be accepted and respected in the masculine world of cars. Thus rather than draw attention to her gender, Jean joined her male contingent to swear, drink, tell dirty jokes, and smoke cigars. She won over fellow auto writers and enthusiasts through her hard work, self-promotion, and engaging storytelling. Jean brought a new style of writing to what was, at the time, a rather conservative automotive establishment. Longtime friend and Automobile co-worker Kathleen Hamilton tells the New York Times, ‘it was enthusiast writing, and she brought adventure to the car-world reader.”
Jean was the first woman to lead a major monthly car magazine. Under her leadership, Automobile became the first car publication to win a National Magazine Award. Jean was also a popular television guest; she appeared on Oprah [where she taught Ms. Winfry to change a tire] as well as the Tonight Show with fellow auto enthusiast Jay Leno. After leaving Automobile, Jean continued to write freelance articles and authored a blog – Jean Knows Cars – for a number of years until her memory began to fail her. Wherever she went, Jean was always easily recognizable by her outlandish hats and larger-than-life personality.
In her later years, Jean and her husband Tim became very involved in raising money for charities like the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital. Her pet project was Caden’s Car Show, a private event where patients and their families could get up close and personal with a variety of cool cars on display. I was proud to take my 1967 Ford Shelby to one of Caden’s Full Throttle Events, established to raise funds for the Mott Congenital Heart Research and Pediatric Heart Transplant Units.
I had always hoped to interview Jean for an article on women in automotive journalism, with plans to eventually submit it to an academic journal. Unfortunately, other projects took precedence and by the time I was ready to begin it was too late. While I did not know Jean well, I had tremendous respect for her talent, success, fearlessness, as well as the inroads she created for women in auto journalism. She was one of a kind, and as noted in obituaries of a plethora of automotive sources, she will be greatly missed.
