Maria Laurino (April 24, 1959) is an American journalist, essayist, memoirist, and former political speechwriter.

Early life and education

Maria Laurino, a third generation

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

, grew up in

North Jersey North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of northern New Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquial one rather than an administrativ ...

. She graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and received her graduate degree in English literature from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. In 2018, Laurino was honored as a Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy) by the Italian Consul General Francesco Genuardi on behalf of Italian President

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...

Career

Laurino began her career as a journalist at ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', where she covered local and state politics and social issues, such as New York's housing market and the resulting surge in its homeless population. In 1989, Laurino left the ''Village Voice'' to become the Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enterin ...

, serving until the end of his term in 1993. After leaving government, Laurino returned to freelance journalism, writing for numerous publications, including ''

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 her essays have been widely anthologized, including in the ''Norton Reader.'' Her first memoir, ''

Were You Always an Italian? {{italic title ''Were You Always an Italian?'' is a memoir written by American author Maria Laurino and published by W.W. Norton in 2000. It was a national bestseller and its chapters have been widely anthologized including in the Norton Reader, t ...

,'' was a national bestseller and explored the issue of ethnic identity among Italian-Americans. Her second memoir, ''Old World Daughter, New World Mother,'' examined the pull and tug the author experienced between Old World traditions that valued familial dependence and a New World feminism that prized female autonomy. In 2014, she published ''The Italian Americans: A History'', chronicling the Italian-American experience from 1860 to the present day (companion book to the PBS series of the same name).

Personal life

Laurino is married to Anthony Shorris, a civil servant who served as First

Deputy Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

and Executive Director of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

. They have one son and live 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurino, Maria American newspaper reporters and correspondents Georgetown University alumni American people of Italian descent New York University alumni Living people New York University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)