The year following her win she crowned fellow Illinois' titleholder Karen Morrison as the new Miss USA, only the second time that a state had won consecutive titles.

[3] In July, Jones competed in the Miss Universe 1973 pageant in Athens, Greece where she placed 1st runner-up to Margarita Moran of the Philippines.

Unlike previous titleholders, Jones was an outspoken supporter of Women's Lib and had marched in peace rallies.

She appears under a pseudonym in Studs Terkel's 1980 book American Dreams: Lost & Found where she recalled[5] One of the big execs from General Motors asked me to do a speech in Washington, D. C., on the consumer and the energy crisis.

In my last fleeting moments as Miss USA, as they were playing that silly farewell speech and I walked down the aisle and stood by the throne, I looked right into the camera and rubbed my fingers across my nose.