Kendall Crolius
Kendall graduated in 1976 with a degree in English from Princeton University – back when women were still something of a novelty in the Ivy League. She wrote her thesis on “The Origin And Development of The Character of Morgan Le Fay in The Arthurian Cycle” and earned extra points for finding an Arthurian topic that had not been done to death.
Her favorite course was Old English – it is gratifying to learn a language and read ALL of the extent literature in one semester. Over the years, she has found it extremely difficult to work her knowledge of Ancient Anglo-Saxon into casual conversation, though she has been known to recite the Lord’s Prayer as a party trick. Kendall now serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Princeton Triangle Club, which produces an original student-written musical comedy each year, and is the first woman in the Club’s 109 year history to hold a position on the Executive Committee.
After graduating from Princeton, Kendall was a professional stage manager, which is how she met her multi-talented husband, actor/director/teacher Stephen Stout. She spent almost twenty years in the ad agency business: at J. Walter Thompson she was a front-line combatant in Burger King’s historic Burger Wars of the mid-eighties; launched Pepsi Slice; and invented Kellogg’s Honey Crunch Corn Flakes; at McCann-Erickson she led the team that launched Agilent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard’s $8 billion spin-off, in 25 countries, while also heading the US Airways account-from-hell, and traveling way too much.
Kendall joined Forbes in April 2000 as Vice President of Marketing, with responsibility for all brand marketing efforts for Forbes around the world. In May 2005, she was named VP/General Manager of Forbes Conference Group and is beyond thrilled to have her first line job so late in her career. Revenue rocks.
Kendall’s book Knitting With Dog Hair was published in the US by St. Martin’s Press in 1994 and in the UK by Hutchinson, Ltd. in 1996. A pop-culture favorite, it generated an enormous amount of publicity, including a feature in People magazine, numerous radio interviews on the BBC and radio stations across the US, and segments on dozens of TV talk shows, including two appearances on CBS This Morning. The book continues to sell steadily, and is recommended on a variety of websites related to crafts, pets and survival after the apocalypse.Kendall’s other activities include co-directing her church’s Christmas Pageant; making homemade jellies and pickles; and knitting obsessively.
She lives in Southport, CT with her husband and their two teenagers: Trevor, a talented musician and filmmaker; and Martha, a dazzling writer and performer, and courageous four year cancer survivor. Kendall savors her daily commute to and from NYC because it provides the only reading opportunity she ever seems to find below 35,000 feet.