Letty Cottin Pogrebin (born June 9, 1939) is an American author, journalist, lecturer, and social activist. She is a founding editor of ''Ms.'' magazine, the author of twelve books, and was an editorial consultant for the TV special '' Free to Be... You and Me'' (as well as for the album and book associated with it) for which she earned an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Early life and education

Loretta (

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

, "Letty") Cottin was born to a

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generat ...

family in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, the daughter of Cyral (née Halpern) and Jacob Cottin. Her father was a lawyer who was active in the Jewish community and her mother was a designer. She attended the

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

of Central Queens and the Jamaica Jewish Center Hebrew High School. After graduating from

Jamaica High School Jamaica High School was a four-year public high school in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was operated by the New York City Department of Education. Jamaica High School was founded as the Union Free School in 1854, and located within a three-story ...

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...

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 ...

, she earned a bachelor's degree from

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

in English and American literature in 1959.

Career

She was a founding editor of ''Ms. Magazine'' and a cofounder of

Ms. Foundation for Women The Ms. Foundation for Women is a non-profit organization for women in the United States, which had a deep commitment to diversity and was founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Marlo Thomas. The organizatio ...

and the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), or the Caucus, describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all ...

. From 1960 to 1970, she worked for the publishing company Bernard Geis Associates as their director of publicity and later their vice president. From 1970 to 1980, she wrote a column for ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'' called "The Working Woman." In 1976, Pogrebin was among 13 women who attended a feminist

Passover Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...

, the first organized and led by Esther M. Broner in her New York City apartment. in 1977, Pogrebin became an associate of the

Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) is an American nonprofit publishing organization that was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1972. The organization works to increase media democracy and strengthen independent media. Mo Basic infor ...

(WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. In 1979, the

Supersisters ''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The ca ...

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...

set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Pogrebin's name and picture. She authored ''How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick'', a guide, after she was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 2009. She was featured (among others) in the 2013 documentary film '' Makers: Women Who Make America''. Pogrebin is a life member of Hadassah, and in 2013 was awarded that year's Myrtle Wreath Award from Hadassah's Southern New Jersey Region. She is a board member of (among other organizations) the Director's Council of the Women in Religion Program at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

, the Ms. Foundation for Education and Communication, and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Brandeis University.

Personal life

With management-side labor lawyer Bert Pogrebin, a partner at

Littler Mendelson Littler Mendelson P.C. is a U.S.-based law firm that handles labor and employment litigation as well as global mobility and immigration issues. The firm has competencies in Mexico, Canada, Germany and Venezuela. The firm has offices in Colombia, ...

, she is the mother of identical twin daughters,

Robin Pogrebin Robin Pogrebin (pron. ro-bin POG-re-bin, born May 17, 1965) has been a reporter for ''The New York Times'' since 1995, where she covers cultural institutions, the art world, architecture, and other subjects. Biography Pogrebin was born to a Jew ...

and

Abigail Pogrebin Abigail Pogrebin (born May 17, 1965) is an American writer, journalist, podcast host for Tablet magazine, and former Director of Jewish Outreach for the Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign. Family and early life Pogrebin was born in N ...

, and a son, David. She is the grandmother of six.

Books

* ''How to Make It in a Man's World'' (1970) * ''Free to Be You and Me'' (1972) (consulting editor) * ''Getting Yours: How to Make the System Work for the Working Woman'' (1976) * ''Growing Up Free: Raising Your Child in the 80s'' (1980) *''Stories for Free Children'' (1982) (editor) *''Family Politics: Love and Power on an Intimate Frontier'' (1983) * ''Free to Be...A Family'' (1987) (consulting editor) * ''Among Friends: Who We Like, Why We Like Them and What We Do with Them'' (1988) * ''Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America'' (1991) * ''Getting Over Getting Older: An Intimate Journey'' (1996) * ''Three Daughters'' (2003) * ''How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick'' (2013) * ''Single Jewish Male Seeking Soulmate'' (2015)

References

External links

Letty Cottin Pogrebin 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 ...