Elinor Lipman (born October 16, 1950) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer, and essayist.

Early life and education

Elinor Lipman was born and raised in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She is the second daughter of Julia M. and Louis S. Lipman. She attended public schools and graduated from

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...

(now Simmons University) in 1972 with a BA in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. While still in college, Lipman worked as an intern for the

Lowell Sun ''The Sun'', also known as ''The Lowell Sun'', is a daily newspaper based in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, serving towns in Massachusetts around the Greater Lowell area and beyond. As of 2011, its average daily circulation was about 42,9 ...

Career

During the 1970s she was a staff writer and editorial assistant for the Massachusetts Teachers Association monthly newsletter, ''Massachusetts Teacher''. Lipman also worked for a time for Boston's public television station, WGBH, writing press releases. She credits the adult education creative writing class she took at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

in 1978 for propelling her into writing fiction. She began writing fiction in 1979, and her first short story, “Catering,” was published in

Yankee Magazine ''Yankee'' is a bimonthly (once every two months) magazine about lifestyle, travel and culture in the New England region of the United States, based in Dublin, New Hampshire. The first issue appeared in September 1935. It has a paid circulation ...

. Lipman’s first book, ''Into Love and Out Again'', a collection of short stories, was published by Viking in 1987. She published her first novel,

Then She Found Me ''Then She Found Me'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Helen Hunt. The screenplay by Hunt, Alice Arlen, and Victor Levin is very loosely based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elinor Lipman. The film marked Hunt's feature film ...

, in 1990. Lipman graduated from

where she studied journalism. She lives in

western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Her 1998 novel ''The Inn at Lake Devine'', explores Antisemitism and Jewish intermarriage. Lipman received the New England Book award for fiction in 2001. Her novel ''Then She Found Me'' was adapted into a 2008 feature film, directed by and starring

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

and

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

, a process that took 19 years. Two of her other novels have also been optioned for movies. Her book of rhyming political tweets, ''Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus'' was published in August 2012 from

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

. Her essays have appeared in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

. ''The View from Penthouse B'' (her 10th novel) and ''I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) were published in 2013. The latter deals in part with the death of her husband at age 60. She was the Elizabeth Drew Professor of Creative Writing at Smith College in 2011-2012. Her poem, "I Bought This Pattern Book Last Spring" appears in the anthology ''Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting, ''published by W. W. Norton & Company in 2013. She writes a weekly column, "I Might Complain," for Parade.com. Lipman's writing is known for its wit and societal observations. Her 13th novel ''Rachel to the Rescue'', featuring a character recently sacked from the Trump White House, was published by the UK publisher Lightning Books in November 2020 after Lipman's US publisher initially declined to take it on. Stacy Schiff has called it ‘The Trump book that could only be published abroad’. In 2022, the Pollard Memorial Library Foundation in

established an Elinor Lipman award for writing, to honor a book by a Lowell-based writer.

Teaching

Lipman has taught at Simmons,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

s. For the 2011-2012 academic year she held the

Elizabeth Drew Elizabeth Drew (born November 16, 1935) is an American political journalist and author. Early life Elizabeth Brenner was born on November 16, 1935, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the daughter of William J. Brenner, a furniture manufacturer, and Es ...

Chair in Creative Writing at Smith.

Personal life

Lipman married Robert Austin, a radiologist, and the pair lived in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

, raising their son, Benjamin Lipman Austin (b.1982). In 2009, Austin died from complications associated with

frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present as ...

. Elinor Lipman now makes her home in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Works

Nonfiction

* 2012 ''Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus'' () * 2013 ''I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays'' ()

Novels

* 1990 ''Then She Found Me'' () * 1992 ''The Way Men Act'' () * 1995 ''Isabel's Bed'' () * 1998 ''The Inn at Lake Devine'' () * 1999 ''The Ladies' Man'' () * 2001 ''The Dearly Departed'' () * 2003 ''The Pursuit of Alice Thrift'' () * 2006 ''My Latest Grievance'' () * 2009 ''The Family Man'' () * 2013 ''The View From Penthouse B'' () * 2017 ''On Turpentine Lane'' () * 2019 ''Good Riddance'' () * 2020 ''Rachel to the Rescue'' ()

Story collections

* 1988 ''Into Love and Out Again'' ()

References

External links

Official website

@ElinorLipman on Twitter

Elinor Lipman papers
at the

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ar ...

, Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Lipman, Elinor 1950 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American women short story writers Writers from Lowell, Massachusetts Writers from Manhattan Simmons University alumni 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Massachusetts