She Left an Indelible Mark and an Incredible Legacy: Jean Jennings, 1954-2024

It’s one thing when women in the automotive world say nice things about each other, call out one another for offering help or a head start. But it’s entirely another when a woman gets unending gratitude and admiration from the boys.
That was Jean Jennings.
This story is 100% human researched and written based on actual first-person knowledge, extensive experience and expertise.
If You Didn’t Know Jean Jennings, Really, You Did

Jean is the one who opened doors for so many women to write about cars, to test, evaluate and form opinions alongside men who were enthusiastically hogging the space. She had the tenacity and confidence to lead everyone who wanted to be led. She lifted gear-head fanatics to become world class writers and elevated automotive storytelling into a loftier realm. She was the first woman to serve as editor-in-chief of a national car magazine.
Jean grew up the only girl among six children, her father the editor of Automotive News and brother Paul an automotive writer. She was mechanical, adventurous and unafraid, or at least seemed to be.
It might have been simple callus. Or maybe it was scar tissue that allowed her to deflect and ignore the indignities that women face when men are ignorant (at best) and evil (at worst) toward women who are as smart and passionate about a subject as they are.
Words, Writers and Magazines

Jean’s mechanical inclinations led her to fix her own cars, to drive a cab, to test cars on the proving ground at Chrysler. And then, to Car and Driver magazine. After building a passionate following at Car and Driver, Jean followed David E. Davis to start Automobile Magazine. There, she dug in and helped to built it into a legend, both in the car world and in the literary world. She turned writers into award winners and set many on course for a lifetime career.
Jean’s progeny were her writers, editors, magazines and words. She nurtured and scolded and taught, saying what needed to be said, doing what needed to be done. If you ever meet anyone who worked for Jean, you’ll see it; her name is spoken with respect, a warm heart and maybe a few tough-love scars.
Jean was quick to smile and made friends everywhere she went. She was generous with advice and sharp-witted. She was pushy if she knew you could do a thing and dismissive if you didn’t.
A Force In Automotive Journalism, No Matter The Winds of Change

By the time I met Jean, she was on to her next adventure. She had dominated automotive journalism for decades, eventually rising to become president of Automobile Magazine. But that term ended poorly as so many journeys in media do, with a corporate owner bereft of the talent to build a thing, only capable of tearing it apart for salvage. It was heartbreaking, but it always is.
She was a force in automotive journalism still; she ran her own site, Jean Knows Cars, continued to contribute to other tiles with articles and reviews. Her hats always made her easy to spot at a car show—if you didn’t hear her laughter first.
Jean Was Known For Iconic Hats and Passionate Advocacy

Jean’s hats were iconic, but she was often the first to pass the hat for charitable causes. When I first met her she was working the room at Hyundai’s annual party at the Detroit Auto Show, getting everyone to cough up donations for Hope on Wheels. “You gotta donate,” she said. ”They treat more children with cancer than the government does.” She had a passion for helping others, especially if there were cars involved.
Opening Doors Was a By-Product Of Her Talent and Passion
I never had the good luck to work for Jean, who died earlier this week due to complications from Alzheimers. But I do consider myself one of the lucky ones to benefit from her legacy.
Her intent wasn’t to open doors for others, or to develop star writers or to build award-winning magazines. She wanted to have a great time, indulge in the things she loved and share the fun. In the process, she opened the door for so many of us to tell the stories we do, to continue to break down barriers, to love our jobs and build careers—and to not let anyone or anything stand in our way.
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