Ruth Duskin Feldman

The Early Years

Ruth Duskin Feldman began her career at age 7 as a Quiz Kid on radio and later on television. She appeared regularly on the program for nine years in the 1940s before "graduating" at 16 and, in her early teens, was quizmistress of the Chicago Sun-Times Quizdown. She authored her first book, Chemi the Magician (Dodd Mead, 1947), at 13.

While a student at Northwestern University, she was a panelist on three radio and television shows: College Quiz Bowl, Superghost, and It's About Time. During her sophomore year she was chosen in a nationwide search as a guest editor of Mademoiselle magazine's 1952 College Board issue. A James Alton James scholar, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and earned a bachelor of science degree with highest distinction from Northwestern in 1954.

A Varied Career

After rearing her three children, Ruth began a midlife career as an award-winning reporter and feature writer for Lerner Newspapers and went on to become a freelance writer, editor, photographer, and lecturer. Her second book, Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids? Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted (Chicago Review Press, 1982; iUniverse, 2000), had major coverage in the New York Times, People, Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, and other publications. She was interviewed on national and local television and radio shows across the United States, including Good Morning America, Today, Donahue, CBS Sunday Morning, and the Studs Terkel and Milton Rosenberg programs.

More recently, Ruth has coauthored four college textbooks published by McGraw-Hill: Human Development (now in its 12th edition and retitled Experience Human Development), A Child's World (also in its 12th edition), Child Development, and Adult Development and Aging. She also coauthored two trade books: Communicoding (Donald I. Fine, 1989; Penguin, 1991) and Rematch: Winning Legal Battles with Your Ex (Chicago Review Press, 1989).

Ruth has contributed frequently to national and regional magazines and newspapers, including Woman's Day, Better Homes & Gardens, New Choices, Vista USA, Travel & Leisure, American Way, USAir, Relax, Chicago Sun-Times, and Chicago Tribune. She won the Benjamin Fine award of the National Association of Secondary School Principals for outstanding education reporting and was a runner-up for a Lowell Thomas travel journalism award and a finalist for an American Society of Journalists and Authors outstanding article award. She was keynote speaker at a Writers and Editors/​One on One conference sponsored by the University of Chicago.

A nationally recognized authority on parenting, education, and gifted children, she has lectured at universities, parents' groups, and school districts throughout the country. She has created award-winning scripts and photographs for audiovisual productions, helped develop an employee training program for Motorola, and has had photographs published in books and periodicals. She is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, and other biographical directories and is a member of the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Pen USA, and other professional organizations.

A madrikha (ordained leader) in the Humanistic Judaism movement, Ruth is a graduate of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism and conducts wedding, funeral or memorial, and baby naming and welcoming ceremonies. She has edited the journal Humanistic Judaism, published by the Society for Humanistic Judaism, since 1983. As a spokesperson for the movement, she has lectured widely and has appeared on radio talk shows.

Family Life

Ruth lives in Highland Park, Illinois, with her husband, Gilbert Feldman, a founding partner in the Chicago labor law firm of Cornfield and Feldman. Ruth and Gil celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary in 2011. Among the special pleasures they share are frequent visits with their adult children, who live on opposite ends of the country, and their eight grandchildren, who range in age from 5 to 23.

Ruth and Gil are extremely proud of their children's accomplishments.
• Steven J. (Jal) Feldman is a keyboard musician with the Seattle Center for Spiritual Living and Bet Alef synagogue and Suzuki piano teacher at the Music Center of the Northwest in Seattle.
• Laurie N. Feldman is a Special Deputy Assistant State's Attorney in Connecticut; her husband, Stephen G. Gilles, is a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, where he was honored as a Faculty Scholar.
• Heidi C. Feldman is an ethnomusicologist in San Diego and author of the award-winning Black Rhythms of Peru: Reviving African Musical Heritage in the Black Pacific (Wesleyan University Press, 2006); her husband, Kevin M. Delgado, is Associate Professor and Coordinator of World Music and Ethnomusicology at San Diego State University.

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