For nearly two decades she ran public relations for ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, ending as vice president.

[4] Creating a theatrical group for seniors – Primrose Productions – Willens co-produced musicals in Long Island, New York, in the 1990s and 2000s.

Because of rising antisemitic violence, her father and his younger brother Ben traveled to the United States in July 1914 just as World War I was starting.

Mother and son barely escaped death in the Kiev pogroms (1919), and in 1922 they paid a smuggler "mule" who was guiding a group of Jews out of Europe.

Willens attended Manual Arts High School, then entered the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to get a bachelor's degree in English.

She was the chief editor of the Daily Bruin in 1944–1945 during her senior year, and her boyfriend, another English major, was future broadcaster Bill Stout.

[10] Willens was a newspaper reporter in Minnesota, hired in 1947 by the Minneapolis Tribune as the first woman to cover the police beat.

When Willens appeared at the police station to cover the law enforcement news, the police detectives complained that they would have to clean up their language in front of a woman, but Captain Gene Bernath was supportive, accommodating Willens' schedule by holding news briefs in the afternoon.

[12] In 1948, Kaplan accepted a position with William Randolph Hearst's International News Service in New York City.

Moving back to New York City, Kaplan rose through various executive positions in Hearst's organization, including a stint as Washington Bureau Chief, 1963–66.

[12] In that role, she penned a wide variety of texts, including speeches for executives, company annual reports, and a musical salute for an internal party thrown every five years.

[1] From this kernel, Hays determined to form a group to make children's music, and he brought on board Alan Arkin, a young actor, and his nurse wife Jeremy Yaffe.

Yaffe and Willens both bore sons in 1956: Adam Arkin in August and Andrew "Pete" Kaplan in October.

This album was reviewed by Audio magazine, with praise for the casual context of the music, apparently recorded in the living room.

The reviewer remarked about how the guitar sounded "inept" at some points and "extremely expert" at others, with Willens' voice drifting off pitch, all of it perfectly appropriate and enjoyable.

Musical director Joel Silberman also portrayed the titular piano player, while Tony Award–winner Kelly Bishop played a bar patron, along with Richard Ryder and others.

[4] Reviews were mixed to negative, with New Jersey drama critic Emory Lewis saying that the musical, with its "shallow" characters, was "in search of a plot."

[25] Willens wrote song lyrics in 1990 for Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, collaborating with composer Laurence Dresner.

[29] Prior to publication, excerpts from the book appeared in the industry magazine Ad Age, stimulating controversy because Willens revealed Bernbach as less than the creative genius of his reputation.

He became a millionaire from real estate holdings on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, and he supported many progressive and liberal issues, especially focused on stopping the nuclear arms race.

[6][34] Willens' son Andrew changed his name to Pete Kaplan; he is a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Her son Dan Kaplan trained as a classical guitarist in Seville, Spain, and specializes in folk music, especially Bob Dylan's early work.