Bio
Marilynn Preston-journalist, author and Emmy Award-winning TV producer-is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country.
When Marilynn started her column in 1976, it ran alongside two other hot topics, CB radio and needlepoint. Women in sports was a revolutionary idea, only hamsters ran on treadmills, and yoga was for swamis, not mommies. All that has changed and week after week for over 30 years, Energy Express has been cheerleading the way.
In an engaging, opinionated style, Marilynn explores what it means to live a healthy, happy lifestyle. From eating clean to going Green, she links body and mind to politics and culture, and always encourages readers to start where they are. Who cares about your past failures on the road to mental and physical fitness ? You're never too old, too fat or too lazy to eat the Breakfast of Champions.
Marilynn has written two books, “Dear Dr. Jock: The People's Guide to Sports and Fitness” and “Work Well, Be Well”. She created, exec produced and co-wrote the nationally syndicated Energy Express TV series about sports, fitness and adventure for kids and families -- for which she won two Emmy's and a Women's Sports Foundation award.
Marilynn does a lot of pro bono work on kid fitness through an outstanding Chicago-based non profit called Girls in the Game. She was its founding chair and is still active on the Board. Girls in the Game provides and promotes sports & fitness opportunities, nutrition & health education, and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well-being of all girls. Please visit www.girlsinthegame.org to meet the girls hear about its great programs, and if you are so inclined, make a healthy donation.
When Marilynn isn't writing her syndicated column, she is living it. Her healthy lifestyle routine includes yoga, racewalking, strength training, kayaking, golf, cycling, wine-tasting and as much adventure travel as she can fit in. She's circumambulated Mt. Kailash in Tibet, climbed Mt. Olympus in Greece, bicycled in France and Italy, golfed in Bhutan, and scuba dived in the Yucatan. Her next adventure, still in the dreaming stage, involves a 45 foot sailboat and a snorkel.
Other career highlights:
- Theater, film and TV critic & feature writer: Chicago Today and Chicago Tribune
- Founder CEO: EN/X TV production company
- Exec producer & writer: “Adventure Travel in Israel”
- Exec producer: “Dr. Cool and Pride's Feeling Good Concert” DVD
- Playwright: “Celebrity Beat,” “Solomons' Choice,” “Blue Sky”
- TV work: co-host of “Friends” talk show (NBC-Chicago); guest critic on “Back of the Book” (PBS) and “Entertainment Tonight”; co-star of “Stay Tuned” (NBC-Chicago).
- Managing partner: Films4Auction
