Penny Valentine Journalist Career, Writer, Recognition and Death

Penny Valentine journalist career was best known for being a rock critic and an occasional television personality.

Synopsis

Born as Penelope Ann Valentine, Penny Valentine journalist career gained her fame and recognition in the 1960s. She is well known for her involvement and contribution in several magazine and music reviews. Valentine has worked for Boyfriend, Uxbridge, Disc, Sounds, Time Out and many more magazines in her lifetime as a journalist. The energetic and young journalist surrendered her life to cancer untimely after she worked as a freelance teacher and a writer. She also gained popularity writing about “Swinging London” and joining a civic magazine City Limits.

Birth and Background

Penna valentine was born on February 13, 1943 as Penelope Ann Valentine. Her birthplace is London which makes her nationality British. However, she held Jewish and Italian ancestry.

Penny Valentine Initial Career

Penny Valentine journalist career started in 1959 when she became a trainee reporter for the first time on Uxbridge Post. Soon after, she switched to Boyfriend in 1960s. After four years of working in the teen weekly magazine, she started to work for another weekly magazine, Disc as a journalist.

While working for Disc, she became a first significant woman reviewer of pop singles. Valentine loved soul music and admired singers like Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye long before they gained recognition.

Later Career and Recognition

Whilst Penny Valentine journalist career gained popularity writing reviews for music, she also wrote a number of articles for several publications. Especially, she wrote about the then current phenomenon “Swinging London”—fashion and Cultural Revolution by youths that took place in 1960s. According to Chris Welsh, Valentine had always been a part of party and receptions that made “Swinging London” fun. Moreover, the popular bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones preferred giving interview to the energetic and young journalist from Disc magazine, Penny Valentine.

After she made notable presence on Juke Box Jury in the mid-1960s, she left Disc in 1970 to join a new magazine Sounds. Elton John, Valentine’s friend, hired her in 1973. She ended up becoming a press officer for The Rocket Record Company.

Penny Valentine journalist career went on with writing for Record Mirror and Melody Maker. In addition, she also penned down for American rock magazine Creem in 1970s.

Later on, she returned to London in 1975 and contributed in a launch of new magazine Street Life. Afterwards, she joined Time Out and served there as a journalist until 1980. Then she extended one more expertise in writing as she joined a political radical magazine City Limits.

Whichever field Valentine chose, she dug her way up to be the finest journalist. Penny Valentine journalist career thrived in every sector she ran her pen on. Being a dedicated worker, Valentine got more involved in civics with her getting into the journalism magazine that focused on civic issues affecting middle and low income communities. Later, the active journalist got involved in National Union of Journalists and Women in Media.

Afterwards, Penny Valentine journalist career switched to freelance teaching and writing after she pursued BA degree in Film Studies and English. The writing enthusiast, Penny Valentine has also written a biography of Dusty Springfield. Vicki Wickham is the co-author of the biography titled Dancing with Demons and it was published in 2000.

Valentine battled cancer for some time. At the age of 59, Penny Valentine journalist career and recognition ended with her death in 2003.

The enthusiastic writer Penny Valentine journalist career did not only limit to journalist and writing reviews for several magazines, but her career even went off limit teaching and writing biography. The journalist gained recognition for her off-limit dedication towards journalism. Her death makes no difference in journalism sector for she has forged her name in it.