‘Reinvention Never Retires’: Joan Lunden, 75, Opens Up About Fearless Change, What Matters Most Today and New Memoir (Exclusive)
The former 'GMA' anchor shares family wisdom, advice on aging and the secret to unshakable joy
Beloved for her landmark run as an anchor on Good Morning America, Joan Lunden defined American mornings for decades, becoming a trusted presence in homes across the country. Now, the trailblazing journalist is opening up to Woman’s World as our cover girl (get your copy here!) about the power of perspective, the art of reinvention and why she has no plans to slow down.
With the release of her 11th book, JOAN: Life Beyond the Script (out March 3), Joan offers an intimate look at the woman behind the broadcast—the fearless pioneer who said yes to every opportunity, the devoted working mother who reshaped expectations and the humorist who previously tackled aging in Why Did I Come Into This Room? A Candid Conversation About Aging—complete with a chapter cheekily titled, “When I Die, I Want to Be Cremated. It’s My Last Chance for a Smokin’ Hot Body.”
In her latest memoir, she proves that reinvention isn’t just possible—it’s a way of life. Here, in our heartfelt and candid conversation, Joan reflects on the remarkable road she’s traveled, sharing the challenges that tested her, the triumphs that shaped her and above all the love that carried her through it all.
Joan Lunden on what matters most for her today
When Joan Lunden settles into her chair, there’s an immediate warmth that radiates from her—the same energy that welcomed millions of Americans into their mornings for two decades on Good Morning America. But ask her what matters most now and the answer comes without hesitation: “My family, my seven children and my husband, Jeff. I got one of the good ones.”
It’s a simple answer that belies a remarkable journey of balancing motherhood with one of the most demanding careers in television. Her grown daughters recently gave her the ultimate compliment: “What they really got from those years was that I was at everything important, but I also showed them that as a woman, you can be a lot of different things in life,” Joan says. “We could be a wife and a mom, but we could also have a career. We could even do multiple careers.”
Those early mornings weren’t without their challenges. Joan remembers her daughters coming downstairs, seeing her on TV, kissing the screen—“but then we’d sometimes change to a cartoon,” she laughs. Yet what could have been a source of guilt became a powerful lesson in possibility. “They saw me doing television, writing books.” Years later, her daughter told her, “That was really a good thing to imbue in us.”
Why Joan Lunden says ‘reinvention never retires’
When Joan left GMA at 47, a young reporter asked if she thought she’d ever “top this.” The question stung—but it sparked something profound. “Everyone expected me to jump to another major TV show,” she recalls. “But by not doing so, I learned the importance of letting life breathe and allowing yourself to find other meaningful things in your life.”
This philosophy has become Joan’s mantra: “Reinvention never retires.” It’s the title of one of her favorite chapters in JOAN: Life Beyond the Script and it’s how she has approached every stage of life since leaving the anchor desk. “If you just stay open to doing new things—that’s kind of how I’ve lived these next chapters.”
She never expected her GMA years to be a 20-year chapter, and she certainly never imagined the many milestones that would follow: hosting multiple TV shows, conquering her fear of public speaking—touring with Tony Robbins was “baptism by fire”—writing books, giving dozens of speeches annually and dedicating herself to advocacy work. “People always say, ‘I can’t believe all the things you’ve done,’” she reflects. “It’s because I said yes every time somebody asked me to do something.”
Joan Lunden on breaking barriers
Joan’s journey to television wasn’t planned—it was a fluke. Growing up as the daughter of a cancer surgeon, she expected to follow in his footsteps. “I graduated from high school and couldn’t wait to go to work in a hospital that he had helped found,” she remembers. “I found out quickly—scalpels and stitches were not part of my storyline.”
A family friend suggested a career in newscasting in 1973, when there were virtually no women on television. “I mean, Barbara Walters was on The Today Show at the time, but I don’t know if I could name another woman who was on TV in 1973.”
But soon, Joan heard opportunity knocking and she answered.
Her first audition at a Sacramento station led nowhere—until the weathercaster spotted her in the parking lot. “I just saw your audition, and I’d like to make you Sacramento’s first weather girl,” he told her. Joan knew nothing about weather and cared even less, but she heard that word again: opportunity. “Somehow, I heard an opportunity, and I said, OK.”
The Monday morning start time—5 a.m.—should have been “the omen for the rest of my life,” she jokes. Within two years, she went from weather girl to consumer reporter to anchor. She wasn’t welcomed with open arms in that newsroom, and she understood why.
“Those men had probably worked at three newspapers and a couple of radio stations before ever getting to be on TV in Sacramento. And then the young blonde—a 23-year-old—comes in with no experience and you’re going to make her an anchor. It’s not fair.”
But Joan had discovered a powerful truth: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” She lived by it, always being ready when opportunity called—even when it meant rushing to the studio with David Hartman out sick, throwing on clothes and hosting the show unprepared but willing.
How Joan’s breastfeeding at ABC in 1979 became a revolution
In 1979, when ABC asked Joan to become co-host of GMA, she had just one condition: “I’m breastfeeding, and I need to bring the baby.” The network, desperate to fill the seat, said yes—but wanted it kept secret. “They’re like, ‘We’re letting you do this, but don’t tell anybody. They’ll think that you can’t concentrate.’”
At her first press conference, the secret lasted approximately one question.
“Time magazine asked, ‘We hear you’re bringing your baby to work. How did you work that out with ABC?’” Joan had to come clean, and in doing so, she became a pioneer. ABC contractually agreed she could take her baby anywhere in the world during the first year of life. At 1 year old, her daughter Jamie accompanied her to cover the royal wedding of Charles III and Diana.
“There was something ingratiating about waking up in the morning and having a person that’s telling you the world is still spinning on its axis and giving you the news of the day, who is also a woman with children who has to deal with diapers and breastfeeding,” Joan explains. “By the way, you couldn’t even say breastfeeding on TV at that time.”
Her daughter Jamie later told her: “You were a momfluencer before that word was invented.” It’s true. Baby products companies came calling, and because GMA was developed by the entertainment division, not news, Joan had the right to do endorsements. She worried about the ethics, but ultimately, her authenticity as a working mom resonated with millions. “On behalf of American mothers everywhere, thank you, Joan, for paving the way,” I tell her. She smiles and adds, “Thank you, ABC.”
The secret to ‘never growing old’
Two sets of twins, born when Joan was in her late 40s, changed everything in her life again. “I know it sounds like, oh my God,” she acknowledges. But at a party shortly after the second set arrived, something profound happened. Her high-powered working girlfriends walked in the front door, took one look at the chaos—20-month-old twins running around, newborn twins sleeping in a double stroller—and said, “Oh God, I’m exhausted just looking at this.”
The caterers, a group of French women, came in the back door, looked at the same scene and said, “You will never grow old.”
“Same two sets of eyes look at exactly the same thing,” Joan reflects. “One sees it as exhilarating, and the other sees it as exhausting. And in that, there is a lesson. It’s all how we approach things in life.”
That lesson extends to every aspect of aging successfully. Joan has written extensively on the subject, and the research is clear: The key ingredients to successful aging aren’t money or location—they’re staying engaged and strong friendships.
“Women are so busy working that they sometimes don’t continue friendships as much as they should,” she says. “Whereas men go play basketball or have dinner with their buddies.”
Her tips for caregiving and connecting
Joan’s advice on caregiving is equally practical and profound. When visiting aging parents, “you need to be a snoop and a detective. Look in the refrigerator—are their foods up to date? Go into their bathroom—are they compliant with medication? Put a few nightlights in the hallway. Piles of unopened mail, expired food—these are the giveaways.”
But her most important wisdom: Start the conversations early—at 60, not 80. Interview them with your phone’s video camera. Ask them about memories and their medical history.
“What was I like as a little kid? Did any of our relatives have colon cancer or breast cancer?” These recordings become treasures, and the information could save your children’s lives. Joan made photo books for her mother, Gladdy, organizing pictures by themes to spark memories and conversations: childhood, Dad’s romance with Mom, family trips. “Even if you don’t know whether they recognize you, keep telling them you love them.”
From her family to her friends, Joan says honoring every season of a woman’s life is an act of love. In fact, her book’s dedication reads: “Behind every successful woman is a cadre of other strong, capable women who help her get there.”
“None of us get here by ourselves,” she says. “Over the years, I’ve had seven or eight assistants, and each of them worked for a different Joan Lunden—the newbie, the new mother, the one not happy in the marriage, the divorce, the one dating again, the one happily married, the one daring to have twins with a husband who’s 10 years younger, the one who goes on to dedicate her life to advocacy. Those were all distinct women—and yet they’re all the same Joan Lunden.”
Conversation
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