About Us

Barbara Ballinger is an award-winning wordsmith who has interviewed a variety of celebrities and experts while covering such diverse topics as business, design, real estate, architecture, entertaining and food, law, and personal finance. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Chicago Tribune, House Beautiful, the New York Times, National Association of Realtors(R), MultiFamily Executive and Developer magazines. Barbara blogs with writing partner Margaret Crane at www.lifelessonsat50plus.com. She also speaks at conferences and has appeared on many TV and radio shows, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She and Margaret wrote their first book together about family business, Corporate Bloodlines: The Future of The Family Firm. Barbara's most recent books include Suddenly Single After 50 with Margaret, The Garden Bible with garden expert Michael Glassman and The Kitchen Bible with kitchen designer Jennifer Gilmer.

 

Margaret Crane is a nationally known freelance writer focusing on business, food, wine, real estate, and home furnishings. She has interviewed such luminaries as Virginia Johnson, Jack Buck, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Moshe Dayan, Shimon Peres, and many more. Most recently she worked as a senior writer and researcher for a large Midwestern nonprofit. Her work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Newsweek, New York Times, Midwest Living, the Wine Spectator, Beverage Journals and the St. Louis Business Journal.  With more than a half-dozen titles to her credit, one of Margaret's  latest books is The Kitchen Bible: Designing the perfect culinary space. In addition, she writes and maintains the weekly blog, Lifelessonsat50plus, with co-author Barbara Ballinger.