Janice McDonald Biography

Janice McDonald (born 1958) is a former Miss South Carolina USA. A native of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, she is the daughter of Dorothy McDonald and the late Weyman McDonald. Janice was a 20 year old senior at the University of South Carolina, majoring in broadcast journalism, when she won the title of Miss South Carolina USA in 1979. During her year as Miss South Carolina USA she competed in the Miss USA Pageant in Biloxi, Mississippi, and traveled throughout the state for appearances.

Near the end of her reign, the Miss Universe organization offered the operation of the Miss SC USA pageant to Janice and her family. Her sister, Paula McDonald Miles, accepted the offer and with the help of Janice and younger sister Anna McDonald Boyce, they accomplished the task. Their first winner, Shawn Weatherly, not only claimed the title of Miss USA, but also Miss Universe.

Janice went on to a career in broadcasting, working in Charleston and Savannah before landing a job at WTBS in Atlanta. She helped launch CNN2 - now CNN Headline News and traveled the world with CNN as a producer, writer, reporter and sometimes anchor. Nominated for 8 Emmys, she left CNN in 2001 to start the Atlanta-based J-Mac Productions . In addition to production work, Janice writes regularly for numerous magazines and newspapers, and she is a contributing editor to travelgirl magazine. Having visited all seven continents, her specialty is travel. Among her highlights: visiting Antarctica with the late Jacques Cousteau in 1990 and again in 2009 with Prince Albert II of Monaco, planting trees in Ethiopia, building houses in Mongolia for Habitat for Humanity and sailing on a Viking ship in Iceland with a descendant of Leif Ericson.

Janice has authored the pictorial history of The Varsity: "Images of America: The Varsity," published by Arcadia Publishing and has co-authored The Myrtle Beach Pavilion and Aiken also published by Arcadia Publishing. For Destin World Publishing, she has written "An Historic Walking Guide: Bruges. She has written "Day Trips from Atlanta," "The Insiders Guide to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand" and "The Insiders Guide to Atlanta" all for Globe Pequot Press.

She is still involved in her sister's pageant production. In addition to the Miss South Carolina USA pageant, Paula's RPM Productions now also handles the Miss North Carolina USA, Miss Louisiana USA, and Miss Alabama USA Pageants. They have produced a total of four Miss USAs, two Miss Teen USAs, one Miss Universe and a Miss World.

Books

• Historic Walking Guides Bruges. Destinworld Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9559281-2-3
• Insiders' Guide to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand. Globe Pequot Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7627-5344-4
• Insiders' Guide to Atlanta. Globe Pequot Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7627-5310-9
• The Myrtle Beach Pavilion. Arcadia Publishing, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7385-8601-4 (Co-authored with Lesta Sue Hardee)
• Images of America: Aiken. Arcadia Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7385-8736-3 (Co-authored with Paul Miles)
• Images of America: The Varsity. Arcadia Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7385-8797-4
• Day Trips from Atlanta: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler. GPP Travel, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7627-7305-3