Sybil MacBeth was born in 1911 and was raised in Brooklyn. She married her husband, Harry MacBeth, in 1935 and moved to Plainfield, New Jersey where Harry owned and operated a bakery and confectionery. Sybil began her writing life with short stories and poetry for the school newspaper at Plainfield High School. By the late 1930's she had begun to cultivate her journalistic skills by contributing to local newspaper columns
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In 1942, she began her career as a journalist in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) serving in the South Pacific during World War II. Her ship was torpedoed in January 1944 and Sybil spent the next two years making her way back to the States via hospital ships and Navy transports landing at Pearl Harbor in 1945.
The war ended in August 1945 and she joined Harry back in Plainfield where she resumed writing for newspapers and magazines including: "The Asbury Park Press" where she worked from 1947-1966, "The Philadelphia Inquirer" from 1966-1972, "The Star Telegram" from 1971-1979, "The Beverly Hills Courier" from 1979-1982, "The Palm Beach Post" from 1981-1983, and "The Miami Herald" from 1984-1987. She also wrote a monthly column for "House Beautiful" magazine from 1954 to 1959, "Woman's Day" magazine from 1967 to 1971, "Good Housekeeping" magazine from 1973 to 1976, "Self Magazine" from 1976 to 1979, "Good Housekeeping Tastemaker Magazine" from 1978 to 1980, "Woman's World Magazine", "Glamour Magazine", and finally Mademoiselle Magazine from 1982 until she retired from writing in 1987. She died at age 87 on September 22nd of 2009 at her home in Jupiter Island Florida after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.