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Jerrold Mundis

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Jerry Mundis
Jerry Mundis

Jerrold J. Mundis (March 3, 1941 – April 4, 2020) was an American author, speaker, and counselor. He wrote on money management, including topics like debt reduction and income growth.[1][2][3][4]

Early life

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Mundis was born March 3, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Dolores Mundis of Bethesda, Maryland, and James M. Mundis, a Kansas native and WWII Navy veteran. His father was a journalist and public relations director who worked for AT&T as its director of news and public relations before retiring in the early 1980s. Jerrold was the middle child between his two siblings, Tom Mundis and Donna Field.[5]

Mundis attended Beloit College from 1959 through 1961. In 1963, he received a B.A. from New York University. He married and raised two sons in the Catskills[6] before moving to Greenwich Village in New York City.

Writing career

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Mundis wrote both fiction and non-fiction, including ghostwritten books, and some 100 short stories, essays, and articles in publications such as the New York Times Magazine, Harper's Weekly and American Heritage.[7]

Mundis is most known for his 13 books of nonfiction, particularly How To Get Out Of Debt, Stay Out Of Debt & Live Prosperously, [8] Earn what You Deserve: How to Stop Underearning & Start Thriving, [9][10] and Making Peace With Money.

In Earn What You Deserve, a book on under-earning, he provides an approach to compulsive behavior regarding spending and handling financial matters beginning with "three cardinal rules: do not incur debt, do not take work that pays less than you require and do not say 'no' to money."[1]

Mundis also wrote 17 novels, including Gerhardt's Children. The New York Times described the novel as "a tricky narrative to bring off, involving as it does many centrifugal lives, but Mr. Mundis brings it off."[11] He wrote under his own name as well as several pseudonyms.

Under the pseudonym Eric Corder,[12] Mundis wrote his Shame and Glory saga[13] about the American slave trade. The series included the books Slave Ship, Slave, The Long Tattoo, Hell Bottom, and Running Dogs. As Corder, he also wrote a non-fiction book, Prelude to Civil War: Kansas-Missouri, 1854-61, [14] recounting the Bleeding Kansas affair from both the pro-slavery and free-soil points of view, beginning with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. As Julia Withers, Mundis wrote Echo in a Dark Wind, a neo-gothic novel published in 1966.[3]

His novel The Dogs, written under the pseudonym Robert Calder, was the subject of an interview by Terry Gross on Fresh Air on May 26, 1976.[15][16] Several other works by Mundis about canines include ghost-written training books about "a celebrated collie" (Lassie).[17] He also wrote The Dog Book, featuring writing by Doris Lessing, E.B. White, Edward Hoagland, William Cowper, John Burroughs, and John Steinbeck.[18]

His work also includes the drama King of the Ice Cream Mountain, a one-act play for children.,[19] co-written with a partner in 1968.

Public Speaking

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Mundis spoke regularly on debt and personal money for many professional societies and associations, including such organizations as the US Customs and Border Protection and the National Education Association, Unity Church. A recovered "debtor" himself, he was intimately familiar with the success of the Debtors Anonymous program.[20][21]

Recognition and awards

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Mundis was a member of the Authors Guild, PEN American Center, and Poets & Writers. He was listed in Contemporary Authors and the Directory of American Poets & Fiction Writers. Some of his books were selected for The Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild, and the One Spirit Book Club.[20]

Under his Robert Calder persona, Mundis won a Dog Writers Association of America award in 1977 for The Dogs. The Chicago Tribune once said of him, "One day Calder is Julia Withers, Gothic novelist the next, he's Eric Corder, black historian or Franklin W. Dixon, one of the writers who penned Hardy Boy serials. He's also Jack Lancer, creator of Chris Cool, Teen Agent."[17]

With his focus on "gaining happier relationships with money" as a writer and public speaker, he was internationally recognized in Debtors Anonymous' 12-step Fellowship (founded in 1971) for helping others and introducing them to the recovery movement.[22] Mundis framed the societal problem as that the “discussion of personal finances, particularly indebtedness, may be the last American taboo.” He pinpointed the issue for the individual suffering from compulsive debt saying, “admitting the problem is essential. Being willing to face facts...” with the caveat that “denial is nearly universal.”[23]

Death

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Mundis died from complications of COVID-19 in Manhattan on April 4, 2020, at the age of 79.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Earn What You Deserve by Jerrold Mundis". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  2. ^ "Jerrold Mundis". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  3. ^ a b "PCL MS 102 Jerrold Mundis Collection". lib.bgsu.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  4. ^ Break Writer's Block Now! - How to Demolish It Forever and Establish a Productive Working Schedule in One Afternoon: A Proven System OCLC 22624966
  5. ^ The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/01/28/obituaries/34ff829e-5022-4f88-b8d5-853e2becb458/ January 28, 1999.
  6. ^ Mundis, Jerrold (1985-10-06). "ABOUT MEN; A License to Drive". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  7. ^ "Author: Mundis J. Jerrold(Jerrold J. Mundis)". www.americanheritage.com. Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  8. ^ Mundis, Jerrold (1 January 2003). How To Get Out Of Debt, Stay Out of Debt & Live Prosperously (Revised ed.). Bantam. ISBN 0-553-38202-0. OCLC 49959421.
  9. ^ Mundis, Jerrold (February 1996). Earn what You Deserve: How to Stop Underearning & Start Thriving (Revised ed.). Bantam. ISBN 9780307805041. OCLC 773728249.
  10. ^ Mundis, Jerrold (24 August 2011). Earn What You Deserve: How to Stop Underearning & Start Thriving. Random House Publishing. ISBN 9780307805041.
  11. ^ Lingeman, Richard R., The New York Times, Books of The Times: An Obsession With Family, August 9, 1976, Page 40
  12. ^ "Results for 'Corder, Eric,' > 'Eric Corder' [WorldCat.org]". www.worldcat.org.
  13. ^ Corder, Eric aut (1978). Shame and Glory. Internet Archive. New York : Pocket books. ISBN 978-0-671-81970-5.
  14. ^ Published by Crowell-Collier Press (1st edition February 1, 1970) ISBN 0027245004, 978-0027245004 OCLC 51227
  15. ^ Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries, Fresh Air With Terry Gross Finding Aid [1]
  16. ^ Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 26, 1976: Interview with Ted Curson; Interview with Robert Calder OCLC 959924879
  17. ^ a b "Boca Raton News - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  18. ^ The Dog Book. OCLC 9603839.
  19. ^ King of the Ice Cream Mountain: A Play in One Act. Dramatic. 1968. ISBN 9780871294371.
  20. ^ a b "Jerrold Mundis | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com.
  21. ^ The New York Times Mundis, Jerrold (5 January 1986). "A Way Back From Deep Debt". The New York Times. Jan. 5, 1986
  22. ^ In Memorium: A Tribute to Jerry M., The DA Focus: The Quarterly World Service Newsletter For The Fellowship Of Debtors Anonymous, 2Q, 2020. https://debtorsanonymous.org/download/may-2020/?wpdmdl=118208
  23. ^ Mundis, Jerrold (1986-01-05). "A WAY BACK FROM DEEP DEBT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  24. ^ "RIP, Jerry Mundis – UA NY". 5 April 2020.
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