Patricia Morrisroe (born January 14, 1951) is an American journalist and author, best known for writing the biography of Robert Mapplethorpe. Her writing has appeared in ''

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 d ...

'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', and others.

Early life and education

Patricia Morrisroe was born in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

. Her father, Lawrence P. Morrisroe, was a banker, and her mother was Eileen Flynn. She graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, earning a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. She received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Cinema Studies 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, th ...

Career

After graduating, Morrisroe worked for a year as a reporter and film critic at the

Eagle-Tribune ''The Eagle-Tribune'' (and ''Sunday Eagle-Tribune'') is a seven-day morning daily newspaper covering the Merrimack Valley and Essex County, Massachusetts, and southern New Hampshire. It is the largest-circulation daily newspaper owned by Commun ...

, a daily newspaper covering Massachusetts and New Hampshire. During the 1980s, she was a contributing editor at

, writing over 50 features including several dozen cover stories. Among the most notable were "The Death and Life of

Perry Ellis Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point" because he int ...

," about the fashion designer's secret battle with AIDS, and "Bess and the Mess," about the political misfortunes of former Miss America

Bess Myerson Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model and television actress who in 1945 became the first Miss America who was also Jewish. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an af ...

. Morrisroe has also written profiles for London's ''

Sunday Times Magazine ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' is a magazine included with '' The Sunday Times''. In 1962 it became the first colour supplement to be published as a supplement to a UK newspaper, and its arrival "broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing". ...

'', including an interview with writer

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mil ...

which was included in the book Conversations With Raymond Carver. Her journalism and essays have been published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fair'', the ''New York Times'', ''Elle Décor'', ''Departures'', and ''

Travel & Leisure ''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark ...

.'' Her essay "Swept Away" was included in ''Nostalgia in Vogue'', a 2011 compilation of coming-of-age essays from the Vogue Nostalgia column, alongside other contributions by

Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

, and others. In 1988, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe selected Morrisroe to write his biography. She interviewed 300 people for the book and spent six months with Mapplethorpe before he died of

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. ''Mapplethorpe: A Biography'' was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 1995. Foreign editions were published in the UK, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan, and Brazil. Art critic Arthur C. Danto, writing in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'', praised it as "utterly admirable ... The clarity and honesty of Morrisroe's portrait are worthy of its subject." Morrisroe's other non-fiction books include ''Wide Awake: A Memoir of Insomnia'' (2010) and ''9 1/2 Narrow: My Life in Shoes'' (2015). Her debut novel, ''The Woman in the Moonlight'', was published in 2020. The book centers on the imagined relationship between

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

and Countess Julie Guicciardi, to whom Beethoven's

Moonlight Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name ''M ...

(Piano Sonata No. 14) was dedicated. As part of the 250th Anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020, Morrisroe wrote articles for the ''New York Times'' exploring lesser-known figures in the composer's life.

Personal life

Morrisroe is married to Lee D. Stern. She lives in New York City and Westchester.

Bibliography

Books

* * *''9 1/2 Narrow: My Life in Shoes''.

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

. *

Essays and Articles

"Forever Single."
''New York Magazine''. August 20, 1984.
"The Punk Glamour God."
''New York Magazine.'' March 26, 2004.
"Grandmother's Travel Memories."
''Travel + Leisure''. April 1, 2009. *

Modern Love. ''The New York Times''. September 28, 2012.

Modern Love. ''The New York Times''. July 23, 2015.
“Château Dior.”
''Departures''. September 12, 2016.

''The New York Times''. September 4, 2020.

''The New York Times.'' November 6, 2020.

''The New York Times.'' December 8, 2020

''The New York Times''. December 20, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrisroe, Patricia 1951 births Living people American women journalists American biographers Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni New York University alumni 21st-century American women