Laura Pedersen is an American author and playwright. She worked at American Stock Exchange before writing her first book, ''Play Money''.

Early life and education

Pedersen is the only child of John and Ellen Pedersen. She grew up in

Amherst, New York Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census. The second ...

, and secured a 4-year BS degree in Finance at New York University's

Stern School of Business The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...

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 ...

in 1987. She worked as a clerk at the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

when she was 18, and had a seat on the exchange at age 20, at that time the youngest person to do so. She received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

degree from

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

in 2013.

Career

In 1991 Pedersen and F. Peter Model wrote a book, ''Play Money'', about her time at the American Stock Exchange. She was a columnist for ''

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 ...

'' from 1995 to 2002. In 2001–2002 she hosted a finance show, ''Your Money & Your Life'', on the

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

channel. She has authored numerous books in both fiction and non-fiction categories. Pedersen is currently the President of The Authors Guild Foundation.

Works

Non-fiction books

* ''Play Money'' (1991) * ''Buffalo Gal: A Memoir'' (2008) * ''Buffalo Unbound: A Celebration'' (2010) * ''Planes, Trains, And Auto-Rickshaws: A Journey Through Modern India'' (2012) * ''Life In New York: How I Learned To Love Squeegee Men, Token Suckers, Trash Twister, and Subway Sharks'' (2015) * ''A Theory of Everything Else: Essays'' (2020) * ''It's Come to This: A Pandemic Diary'' (2021)

Fiction books

* ''Going Away Party'' (2001) * ''Beginner's Luck'' (Book One in The Hallie Palmer Series) (2003) * ''Last Call'' (2003) * ''Heart's Desire'' (Book Two in The Hallie Palmer Series) (2005) * ''The Big Shuffle'' (Book Three in The Hallie Palmer Series) (2006) * ''Best Bet'' (Book Four in The Hallie Palmer Series) (2009) * ''Fool's Mate'' (2011)

Short story

* ''The Sweetest Hours'' (2006)

Children's books

* ''Unplugged: Ella Gets Her Family Back'' (2012) * ''Ava's Adventure'' (2014) * ''Wanda's Better Way'' (2017) * ''Dana Digs In'' (2020)

Dramas

* ''For Heaven's Sake!'' * ''A Dozen Perfect Moments'' * ''Living Arrangements'' * ''This Will All Be Yours'' * ''The Brightness of Heaven'' * ''Community Service'' * ''Second Acts'' * ''A Child's Christmas in Buffalo'' * ''A Tale of Two Blizzards''

References

Kirkus review

WBFO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Laura Living people 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Novelists from New York (state) 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people)