Alma mater St. Mary's University Nationality American | Years active 1975–present | |
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Full Name Juan Manuel Quiñones Born May 23, 1952 (age 64) ( 1952-05-23 ) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Occupation Journalist, broadcaster Spouse Nancy Loftus Quinones (m. 1988–2009) Siblings Rosemary Quiñones, Irma Quiñones Books Heroes Among Us: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Choices TV shows What Would You Do?, Primetime, ABC 2000 Today Similar Diane Sawyer, Deborah Roberts, David Muir, Cynthia McFadden, Elizabeth Vargas Profiles | ||
Juan Manuel "John" Quiñones (born May 23, 1952) is an ABC News correspondent, and currently the host of What Would You Do?.
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Early life and education
John Quiñones was born in San Antonio, Texas on May 23, 1952. He is a fifth-generation San Antonian and a fifth-generation American, Quiñones grew up in a Spanish-speaking household and did not learn English until he started school at age 6. When he was 13 years old, his father was laid off from his job as a janitor and John's family, including sisters Irma and Rosemary, joined a caravan of migrant farmworkers and journeyed to Traverse City, Michigan to harvest cherries. Later that summer, the Quiñones family followed the migrant route to pick tomatoes outside of Toledo, Ohio. John will never forget the words from his father, Bruno early one morning as they knelt on the cold, hard ground of Ohio's tomato fields. "Juanito, do you want to do this for the rest of your life? Or, do you want to get a college education?" It was a no-brainer. Determined to overcome the current Hispanic stereotypes of being uneducated, he decided to attend college. While attending Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, Quiñones was selected to take part in the federal anti-poverty program, Upward Bound, which prepared inner-city high school students for college. "Upward Bound saved my life," he says. John attended St. Mary's University, in San Antonio. As an undergraduate, Quiñones was also a member of the Sigma Beta-Zeta Chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. After graduating from St. Mary's with a bachelor's degree in Speech Communication, Quiñones earned his master's degree from Columbia University's School of Journalism.
Career
Quiñones served as a radio news editor at KTRH in Houston, Texas from 1975 to 1978 and also worked as an anchor-reporter for KPRC-TV. He later reported for WBBM-TV in Chicago. In 1982, Quiñones started as a general assignment correspondent with ABC News based in Miami. He was a co-anchor of the ABC News program, Primetime and now hosts What Would You Do? He also reports for all ABC News programs such as 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight and Nightline.
According to communications attorney Mark Lloyd, "Quiñones told the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) audience that he got his start because a San Antonio community organization threatened that if the stations didn't hire more Latinos, the group would go to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and challenge their licenses."
Personal life
Quiñones married his high school sweetheart at a private ceremony in West Palm Beach, Florida. He has 3 children and currently has a condo in Manhattan, New York, a vacation home in Vail, Colorado, and a weekend home in the Hamptons.
Awards
