In addition to being a champion of print journalism, Black will dole out the expected career advice to the new grads, such as going after more than one job if it means paying the rent, as she did when she took her first job at Holiday magazine. "My father said to me, you cannot sign a lease in New York until you have a job that can pay for your financial contribution [to the apartment]. My roommate was interviewing at a large publishing company, now defunct. She became the assistant to the cartoon editor at The Saturday Evening Post. I asked if there were any jobs open." The company offered up a sales assistant position at Holiday. "It paid $30 more a week than Condé Nast. And that's why I took the job because I couldn't afford my apartment on a Condé Nast salary." Black, incidentally, did not mention whether or not a sales assistant could afford an apartment today on Hearst's entry-level salary.

For non-Medill graduates, Black's book, which hits shelves in late October, will give practical advice on "having a 360-degree life — a blend of professional accomplishment and personal contentment," according to the pitch from the publisher, Crown. "It should be a bible for younger women starting out in the workplace," said Black. Though some executives usually write books near the end of their careers, Black said she's not bowing out of the working world. "I don't think I'm at the end of my career at all. [The book] is more a giving back to young people as they fight their way up in their careers." — Stephanie D. Smith