Today, 7th October 2016, marks the 70th birthday of BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and we thought it was timely to profile Dame Jenni Murray, who has been hosting the show for almost 30 years. Born Jennifer Bailey, in Yorkshire in 1950, Jenni attended a grammar school in Barnsley and obtained a degree in French and Drama from the University of Hull. Between 1973 and 1983 she held a variety of reporter, presenter and newsreader roles before joining BBC Radio 4 on the Today programme and moving to Woman's Hour in 1987.
Jenni writes regularly for various newspapers and magazines and has written several books including The Woman's Hour: A History of Women Since World War II and Is It Me or Is It Hot In Here: A Modern Woman's Guide to the Menopause; That's My Boy deals with raising sons and her latest book is Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful Daughter, which examines her relationship with her mother.Jenni was appointed an OBE in 1999 for services to broadcasting and made Dame (DBE) in 2011.In 2006 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery and chemotherapy. She has publicly expressed her concern that it was linked to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). She is actively involved in charitable work - since 2007 she has been Patron of British medical research charity Breast Cancer Campaign, she is a Patron of the Family Planning Association and Vice President of Parkinson's UK.What an inspiring woman!Click here to listen to the podcast of the 70th Birthday edition of Woman's Hour.