newspaper reporter in Minnesota, hired in 1947 by the Minneapolis Tribune as the first woman to cover the police beat. She competed for scoops against 24-year-old Harry Reasoner who worked for rival newspaper The Minneapolis Times. Willens' beau from UCLA followed her to Minneapolis and began working at the Times; Willens and Stout were briefly married, from mid-1947 to mid-1948. When Willens appeared at the police station to cover the law enforcement news, the police detectives complained that they would have to clean up their language in front of a woman, but Captain Gene Bernath was supportive, accommodating Willens' schedule by holding news briefs in the afternoon. After her divorce, Willens started a romance with 28-year-old Milton L. Kaplan, assistant city editor at the Tribune. In 1948, Kaplan accepted a position with William Randolph Hearst's International News Service in New York City. Willens married him in May 1949. In 1950, Kaplan was assigned the London office, bringing Willens to London for five years. Their son Jeffrey was born in London on May 5, 1954. Moving back to New York City, Kaplan rose through various executive positions in Hearst's organization, including a stint as Washington Bureau Chief, 1963–66. Returning once again to New York City, Kaplan's career culminated as chief of King Features Syndicate. At the close of 1972, he died of a heart attack at age 52 while skiing in the Catskill Mountains. Willens was employed by the New York Journal-American and became the first woman columnist covering the advertising agency industry. In 1966 the ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) hired her as their director of public relations. In that role, she penned a wide variety of texts, including speeches for executives, company annual reports, and a musical salute for an internal party thrown every five years. She rose to the rank of vice president. Willens published the DDB News internally, conducting interviews and reporting on events. She was recognized in 1982 by the Academy of Women Leaders (AWL) for her "achievements... and contributions to the success of other women." The AWL is a program of the YWCA of the City of New York. The Baby Sitters In 1955, Kaplan and Willens took a flat in Brooklyn. Willens discovered that folk singer Lee Hays lived one floor below them. Hays was struggling to get by because of the blacklisting of the Weavers, and he helped Willens soothe and entertain