When she was just eighteen, Quindlen was hired by the New York Post as a part-time reporter, and by the time she completed her degree at Barnard, she had earned a spot as a full-time reporter. While Quindlen was at Barnard, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and died when Quindlen was nineteen. In 1977 Quindlen left the New York Post for a job with the prestigious New York Times. She began work there as a general-assignment reporter and was soon assigned to City Hall, which she covered until 1981. In 1978 Quindlen married Gerald Krovatin, a criminal-defense attorney. By 1983, Quindlen had been promoted to deputy metropolitan editor and was contributing two editorial columns a week in addition to her other writing duties at The New York Times.
Quindlen gave birth to her first son, Quin, in 1983 and another son, Christopher, in 1985. By that time Quindlen felt drawn to stay home with her children, and she decided to resign from the newspaper. Her editor, however, offered her a chance to write a weekly column, which later turned into "Life in the 30s." Quindlen's columns became enormously popular and soon gained syndication across the United States.
