Trish Vradenburg (1946 – April 17, 2017) was an American playwright, author, television writer, and advocate of research to cure
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
.
Biography
Vradenburg was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...]
in 1968 and became a speech writer for Senator
Harrison A. Williams
Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams Jr. (December 10, 1919November 17, 2001) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives (1953–1957) and the United States Sena ...
(D-NJ).
She was a writer on three television shows.
In addition, she wrote the novel ''Liberated Lady'' (1986) as well as the plays ''The Apple Doesn't Fall…'' and ''Surviving Grace''.
Both of those plays are accounts of Vradenburg's time as an Alzheimer's caregiver for her mother, who died of the disease in 1991. Vradenburg is survived by her husband, former
AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017â ...
executive and venture philanthropist
George Vradenburg. In 2008, the Vradenburgs founded US Against Alzheimer's, a national advocacy network dedicated to stopping Alzheimer's.
In 2012, Capitol File magazine named Trish and George Vradenburg on their list of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
's top power couples for the philanthropy and advocacy efforts. She was also a member of the board of
Theater J
Theater J is a professional theater company located in Washington, DC, founded to present works that "celebrate the distinctive urban voice and social vision that are part of the Jewish cultural legacy".
Organization
Hailed by ''The New York T ...
and DC Vote.
Books
In 1986
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
published Vradenburg's novel, ''Liberated Lady'', which was described as a "comedic romance with a dash of politics." The book was chosen as
Literary Guild
The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a way to encourag ...
and
Doubleday Book Club
Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000.
Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizon ...
selections. Further, Vradenburg was published in the anthology ''
Chicken Soup for the Romantic Soul'' in 2000.
Television
In 1986, she became a writer for the show ''
Designing Women
''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...
''. In addition, she also wrote for the shows ''
Kate and Allie
''Kate & Allie'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989, starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two divorced women, both with children, who decide to live together in the same house. ...
'' and ''
Family Ties
''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States f ...
''.
Her shows dealt with topics including abortion, homosexuality, race relations and high school reunions.
She also wrote a pilot about life at a home shopping network, ''The Shopping Maul'', for
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own ta ...
Productions. She was the on-air host of ''Book This Show with Trish'', a book show for Q2.
Plays
Vradenburg wrote the play ''The Apple Doesn't Fall...'' which was produced at the
Tiffany Theater
The Tiffany Theater was the first theater on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It stood west of La Cienega between the Playboy Club and Dino's Lodge restaurant. Before being converted from the Mary Webb Davis Modeling School office ...
in Los Angeles and on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
at the
Lyceum Theatre in New York City, and ''Surviving Grace'' which was produced at the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in Washington and
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the
Union Square Theatre
Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.(8 October 1921)Two landmarks to ...
in New York. ''Surviving Grace'' was translated into
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and produced in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. ''Surviving Grace'' is published by
Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Broadway Play Publishing Inc (BPPI) was established in New York City in 1982 to publish and license the stage performance rights of contemporary American plays. The Broadway Play Publishing Inc catalog consists of over 1,000 plays and nearly 400 ...
Print media
Trish and George Vradenburg served as co-publishers of ''
Tikkun'' (2002-2012), a bi-monthly English-language magazine that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion and history from a leftist-progressive viewpoint, and provides commentary about Israeli politics and Jewish life in North America. She has also had opinion pieces published in several newspapers, including ''
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 ...
''.
Alzheimer's advocacy
She and her husband chaired the National Alzheimer's Gala in Washington, D.C. (2004-2010) which raised over $9 million for the
Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer's Association was founded by Jerome H. Stone with the help of several family members in Chicago, Illinois, and incorporated on April 10, 1980, as the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. It is a non-profit Ame ...
. In 2010 they launched
US Against Alzheimer's
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
(USA2), an independent organization whose mission is to stop Alzheimer's disease by the year 2020.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vradenburg, Trish
1946 births
2017 deaths
American women philanthropists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American novelists
American television writers
American women dramatists and playwrights
American women novelists
Writers from Newark, New Jersey
Novelists from New Jersey
Screenwriters from New Jersey
American women television writers
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century women philanthropists