Kitchen Conversations

Barbara Ballinger (Hudson River Valley, NY) is an award-winning journalist, author, and reporter who has interviewed a variety of celebrities and experts including Tipper Gore, Martha Stewart, Danny Meyer, Rosalynn Carter, Lorraine Bracco, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Ruth Reichl. She has covered diverse topics such as business, design, real estate, entertainment, food, law, and personal finance. Her work has appeared in publications such as the GlobeSt.com, Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Crain’s Chicago Business, HGTV, American Bar Association Journal, House Beautiful, Multifamily Executive, Developer, Realtor, Robb Report, Travel & Leisure, Midwest Living, AAA, NAA’s Units Magazine, and more. Of the nineteen books Barbara has authored, thirteen have been with Margaret Crane - the most recent being Suddenly Single after 50, Not Dead Yet, and The Kitchen Bible. She and Crane blog weekly at lifelessonsat50plus.com. Barbara has also appeared on television and radio, including a segment about remodeling disasters on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and with Crane on NPR about their last book. She formerly worked for House & Garden, part of Condé Nast, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, and Realtor® Magazine by the National Association of Realtors®. She earned a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University, and an MA from Hunter College, City University of New York, and started work on her MBA.

Margaret Crane (New York, NY) is a nationally known freelance writer focusing on business, food, wine, fashion, home furnishings, and real estate. She has interviewed such luminaries as Jack Buck, Virginia Johnson, Sally Quinn, Moshe Dayan, Dr Benjamin Spock, David Ben Gurion, and Tippi Hedren, among many others. Her work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including The Beverages Journal, Crain’s Chicago Business, Family Business Magazine, Inc., Midwest Living, the New York Times, Newsweek, Realtor® Magazine, St. Louis Business Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Magazine, the Wine Spectator, and Your Company Magazine. A proven author with thirteen titles to her credit, she has co-authored with Barbara Ballinger other such books as Successful Homebuilding and Remodeling, The New Homeowners Handbook, Apartment Living, Not Dead Yet, and The Kitchen Bible. She formerly worked as a senior writer and researcher at a nonprofit fundraising organization in St. Louis, where she helped launch and maintain an award-winning website. Margaret blogs weekly with Ballinger at lifelessonsat50plus.com. She has also appeared on television and radio and, with Ballinger, spoken around the country about becoming single, including on NPR and at Barnard College. In addition, she writes website content and does ghostwriting and editing for various clients. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri and has started a master’s in education. 

Kitchen Conversations is Barbara and Margaret’s thirteenth collaboration.