Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids?: Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted [Paperback]

Ruth Duskin Feldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2000

The Quiz Kids radio and television program was a national institution in the 1940s and 1950s. Did the Quiz Kids fulfill their youthful promise? What were the fruits bitter and sweet of their childhood experience? What are the lessons learned for gifted children today?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a terribly moving series of portraits of those precocious children who became premature celebrities." -- Studs Terkel

About the Author

Ruth Duskin Feldman became a Quiz Kid at age seven and made more than 150 radio and television appearances in the 1940s and 1950s. Now a grandmother, she is an award-winning writer, educator, lecturer on gifted children, and co-author of A Child's World, a college textbook on child development. She and her husband Gilbert live in Highland Park, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (September 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595007279
• ISBN-13: 978-0595007271
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ruth Duskin Feldman started her career at age 7 as a radio/television Quiz Kid. Today she is a writer, editor, photographer, and lecturer, specializing in education and child raising. She published her first book, Chemi the Magician (Dodd Mead, 1947) when she was 13. Her second book, Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids? - Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted (Chicago Review Press), came out in 1982 and was republished by iUniverse as a Backinprint Authors Guild edition in 2000. Currently she coauthors four leading college textbooks published by McGraw-Hill: Human Development, A Child's World, Child Development: A Topical Approach, and Adult Development and Aging.

During the 1970s Feldman was an award-winning writer for Lerner Newspapers, a community newspaper chain in Chicago. She has contributed to many newspapers and national magazines. She won the 1983 Benjamin Fine award of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and was a runner-up in the Lowell Thomas 1986 travel journalism awards and a finalist in the American Society of Journalists and Authors 1992 magazine article awards. She was keynote speaker at the 1994 Writers and Editors/One on One conference sponsored by the University of Chicago.

Feldman has done scripts and photography for filmstrips and video programs; edits a quarterly journal, Humanistic Judaism; and has published photographs in books and magazines. As a nationally recognized authority on gifted children, she has lectured at universities, parents' groups, and school districts throughout the country. She is a member of PEN USA, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Society of Professional Journalists, and Authors Guild and is listed in several Who's Whos. She lives in Highland Park, Illinois, with her husband, Gilbert Feldman, an attorney. They have three grown children and seven grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest and Compelling Review of the Lives of Prodigies, November 4, 2001

By 

Deborah Earle (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids?: Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted (Paperback)

Several years ago, I used this book in a study of gifted children. It was a fascinating look at the lives of child prodigies. But I'm sure that many will identify with the statement made by one man who was asked about what became of the Quiz Kids: " I hope they all turned out to be garbage collectors!"
It would be a tragic waste if that man had gotten his wish. But that is a realistic summary of the the feelings that many people have towards child prodigies. The photos of Ruth Duskin Feldman as a child reminded me of an overacheiving girl I once knew, and any body who has ever suffered the childhood indignity of verbal comparisons between themselves and someone who was considered more brilliant might not wish such children very well.
Of course, they didn't all turn out to be garbage collectors, and they can count a Nobel Prize Winner (James D. Watson) among them, as well as an actress (the late Vanessa Brown), a Jesuit Priest (Jack Lucal), and actor and dialect coach (Bob Easton), and a producer (Harve Bennett) among their ranks. On the the other hand there was the early death of one of the most promising Quiz Kids, Gerard Darrow, for whom certain social and academic needs could never really be met.
As is the case with many child celebrities, some of these Quiz Kids feel that their parents exploited them. As a Jew, Feldman discusses the bias against her and other Quiz Kids of the same faith. The story of how the non-Jewish Quiz Kids were sent to shake hands with the anti-semitic Henry Ford during a visit before she and the others could, in order to curry favor with the famed auto maker, was quite an attention-getter.
Duskin also sheds light on the sexism of the time, stating that girls often had to allow themselves to be deferential to boys on issues in order to continue to appear "feminine".One girl even advised her not to appear too brilliant if she wanted to get dates.Thank Heaven times have changed!
What Ruth Duskin has ultimately given us is a longitudinal study of gifted children that is sincerely told. No one could accuse her of being too arrogant about her prodigiousness, especially when she discusses the rejection she suffered.
Incidentally, I myself did very well on the report in which I used this book, and would highly recommend it to others. It's a fascinating study.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This program should have aired decades before it did!, April 26, 2010

By 

Geni J. White (Pacific Northwest. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids?: Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted (Paperback)

Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids, Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted
Ruth Duskin Feldman, 1982, 2000
ISBN 0-595-00727-9
iUniverse.Com
370 pps., Ppbk.

The Quiz Kids, a weekly radio program the 1940s and early 1950s. showcased gifted children, the youngest four or five years old. Quiz- master Joe Kelley asked the youngsters questions in their specific categories. His warm nature and non-competition with the panelists also made the show fun. American children, glued to radios, tried to answer faster than the contestants.

Quiz kids were articulate and well-rounded and often surprised audiences with their wit. The kids were self-motivated, but parental support fostered their learning.

The show hopefully encouraged better teaching for gifted children. In that era precocious children were ignored in schools, their abilities seldom challenged and fostered. I personally have always regretted that eduational failing.

Ruth Duskin Feldman, the first girl quizzer, starting at age ten was a regular contestant for years. As an adult she wondered what her fellow quizzers had accomplished in life so interviewed many of them. They'd become community leaders, but only one was famous (as a movie star). Feldman lists each interviewee and their occupations, from housewives to important scientists and college professors.

Especially for seniors who remember the program, an enjoyable read. And a realization that gifted children need special attention to meet their full potential.