Media Releases

FORMER MTV VJ, MARTHA QUINN PLAYS FOR LA LECHE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ON TELEVISION GAMESHOW "THE WEAKEST LINK"

Contact Kim Cavaliero, ext. 233, Mary Lofton, ext. 271, or Mary Hurt, ext. 286
Phone (847) 519-7730

Schaumburg, IL (October 2001)-Martha Quinn, one of Music Television's (MTV) original video jockeys, or VJ, will be appearing October 29, 2001 on the celebrity edition of the NBC game show "The Weakest Link." She has chosen La Leche League International (LLLI) as her designated charity.

Voted "MTV's Best-Ever VJ" by Rolling Stone magazine readers, she hosted such programs as "Martha's Greatest Hits" and "MTV Prime with Martha Quinn." After leaving MTV, she appeared on a number of TV shows, including playing the role of Mrs. Bobby Brady in the television series "The Brady's," and was featured in several films and commercials. More recently she was part of Bryant Gumbel's "The Early Show" and is currently on hiatus from her nationally syndicated radio show "Martha Quinn's Rewind."

With the birth of her daughter Annabelle in 1997, Quinn took on her favorite role to date--that of full-time mother, which she describes as being "one hundred times as important as any of the other work I have done." She and her husband Jordan Tarlow, a composer of television commercial music, are expecting another child soon.

At her pediatrician's suggestion, Quinn read LLLI's book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding while she was pregnant with her daughter. She later began attending LLL meetings and now wishes that she had attended them before she had given birth. Today, Quinn is as exuberant in her enthusiasm for LLLI as she was with being a celebrity VJ. An LLLI Leader for the past two years, she recommends that all pregnant women "check out a La Leche League meeting, (a place) where they will meet a lot of great people and hear all about what breastfeeding has to offer." She continues, "just because breastfeeding is natural, doesn't mean it comes naturally--a little information can help you get your breastfeeding off to a great start."

Quinn brings the warmth, enthusiasm and talent that she has exhibited in her other work to her work as an LLL Leader and believes one of the main reasons women quit breastfeeding is because of lack of support which she says, "is where we (LLL) come in." She goes on to say, "a mom will present an issue at an LLL meeting and you can feel the community energy supporting her and when she leaves the meeting, she feels validated and empowered."

First becoming interested in breastfeeding because of the unique nutritional benefits it offers babies, Quinn has become a passionate advocate for breastfeeding since learning about the other advantages. She believes she is helping not only her own family, but also her community, and the world. Quinn says that LLLI should sell a T-shirt that says, "World Peace through Breastfeeding--One Baby at a Time."

LLLI is grateful to Martha Quinn for her work as an LLL Leader and for her generosity in choosing LLLI as her favorite charity.

La Leche League International is a nonprofit organization offering mother-to-mother support in 32 languages and 63 countries. It offers a variety of educational opportunities for medical professionals, publishes and sells books and magazines on breastfeeding and parenting and maintains an award-winning website at www.lalecheleague.org

Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:32:32 UTC 2007.