Marion Roach

Last updated

Marion Roach Smith [1] (born April 7, 1956) is a non-fiction author and a former staff member of The New York Times [2] who advocates "the power of the personal narrative". [1]

Contents

Books

Her first book, Another Name for Madness (1985), is a memoir that describes Alzheimer's effects on her mother (Allene Zillmann Roach) [3] and the family problems that arose because of it. [4] A reviewer for The Baltimore Sun described the book as "simply the best evocation of an insidious illness I have ever read." [5] The book has been published in Canada, England, France, Japan, and the United States. [6]

Roach wrote The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair (2005), a non-fiction piece about the history and oddities of red heads and their reactions from society. [7] [8] [9]

She is also the coauthor of Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers with physician Michael Baden (2001), [10] [11] and the author of The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life (2011). [12]

Career

After graduating college, Roach was hired by The New York Times. [1] At The Times, she worked as a copy person from 1977 to 1978, as a news clerk from 1978 to 1980, and as a news assistant from 1980 to 1983. [13] Beginning in 1998, she has been an instructor at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, New York, of a class called "Writing What You Know" that teaches about writing memoirs. [14] [15]

Along with her books, Roach's writing has also been published in the New York Times Magazine , [4] Vogue , Good Housekeeping , Discover, Prevention, and Newsday . She also works as a professor of a memoir course at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, New York; and works as a commentator on National Public Radio on the show "All Things Considered." She previously had a spot on Martha Stewart Living Radio Sirius 112 called "The Naturalist's Datebook". This daily radio show included facts, websites, books, poems and more concerning nature and naturalists. She started each piece with how many days of the year had elapsed since New Years, and quotes how many days since the new moon. Ms. Roach closed each Datebook with the phrase "And that's it for the Naturalist's Datebook... and remember: look around, write it down, and keep your eye on nature."

Roach testified before the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Aging in the mid-1980s to ask Congress to revise the insurance practice of labeling Alzheimer's disease as a custodial issue (non-medical care that assists people with day-to-day living such as eating or washing) instead of a medical one. [4] She has served as a member of the board of directors for the Alzheimer's Resource Center. [13] In addition to her emphasis on helping people affected by Alzheimer's, Roach has also worked with domestic-abuse survivors, people in recovery, and veterans of the Vietnam War. [1]

Personal life

Marion Roach was born on April 7, 1956, in Queens, New York City, to James Pilkington Roach, a sportswriter, and Allene Roach, a teacher. [13] In 1977, she graduated cum laude from St. Lawrence University, [13] where she is Board of Trustees member. [16] [17] Roach is married to the Times Union editor Rex Smith, and they have a daughter. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Dillard</span> American author

Annie Dillard is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 work Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. From 1980, Dillard taught for 21 years in the English department of Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut.

<i>Joy of Cooking</i> Book by Irma S. Rombauer

Joy of Cooking, often known as "The Joy of Cooking", is one of the United States' most-published cookbooks. It has been in print continuously since 1936 and has sold more than 20 million copies. It was published privately during 1931 by Irma S. Rombauer (1877–1962), a homemaker in St. Louis, Missouri, after her husband's suicide the previous year. Rombauer had 3,000 copies printed by A.C. Clayton, a company which had printed labels for fancy St. Louis shoe companies and for Listerine mouthwash, but never a book. Beginning in 1936, the book was published by a commercial printing house, the Bobbs-Merrill Company. With nine editions, Joy of Cooking is considered the most popular American cookbook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Wilson</span> American actor

Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in The Full Monty (2000–2001) and Oklahoma! (2002). He co-starred in the acclaimed HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Patchett</span> American novelist and memoirist (born 1963)

Ann Patchett is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars (1992), Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), and The Dutch House (2019). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Roach</span> American author (born 1959)

Mary Roach is an American author specializing in popular science and humor. She has published seven New York Times bestsellers: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife (2005), Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008), Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void (2010), Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (2013), Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War (2016), and Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law (2021).

Kathryn Harrison is an American author. She has published seven novels, two memoirs, two collections of personal essays, a travelogue, two biographies, and a book of true crime. She reviews regularly for The New York Times Book Review. Her personal essays have been included in many anthologies and have appeared in Bookforum, Harper's Magazine, More Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Vogue, Salon, and Nerve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Theodora Parsons</span> American botanist

Frances Theodora Parsons, who initially published as Mrs. William Starr Dana, was an American naturalist and author active in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She wrote a number of books, including a popular guide to American wildflowers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy K. Smith</span> American poet

Tracy K. Smith is an American poet and educator. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. She has published five collections of poetry, winning the Pulitzer Prize for her 2011 volume Life on Mars. Her memoir, Ordinary Light, was published in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Bloom</span> American writer and psychotherapist (born 1952)

Amy Beth Bloom is an American writer and psychotherapist. She is professor of creative writing at Wesleyan University, and has been nominated for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. Smith</span> American restaurateur, TV personality

Barbara Elaine Smith, professionally known as B. Smith, was an American restaurateur, model, author, businesswoman, and television host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piper Kerman</span> American author

Piper Eressea Kerman is an American author. She was indicted in 1998 on charges of felonious money-laundering activities, and sentenced to 15 months' detention in a federal correctional facility, of which she eventually served 13 months. Her memoir of her prison experiences, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (2010), was adapted into the critically-acclaimed Netflix original comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013). Since leaving prison, Kerman has spoken widely about women in prison and problems with the federal prison system. She now works as a communication strategist for non-profit organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathryn Schulz</span> American journalist and author

Kathryn Schulz is an American journalist and author. She is a staff writer at The New Yorker. In 2016, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her article on the risk of a major earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Northwest. In 2023, she won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir or Biography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Jamison</span> American novelist and essayist

Leslie Sierra Jamison is an American novelist and essayist. She is the author of the 2010 novel The Gin Closet and the 2014 essay collection The Empathy Exams. Jamison also directs the non-fiction concentration in writing at Columbia University's School of the Arts.

<i>Hitch-22</i> 2010 memoir by Christopher Hitchens

Hitch-22: A Memoir is a memoir written by author and journalist Christopher Hitchens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Lockwood</span> American poet, author

Patricia Lockwood is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her 2021 debut novel, No One Is Talking About This, won the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her 2017 memoir Priestdaddy won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Her poetry collections include Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, a 2014 New York Times Notable Book. Since 2019, she has been a contributing editor for The London Review of Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Havrilesky</span> American author

Heather Havrilesky is an American author, essayist, and humorist. She writes the advice column "Ask Polly" for Substack. She is the author of Disaster Preparedness: A Memoir, the advice book How to Be a Person in the World and the essay collection What If This Were Enough?

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jami Attenberg</span> American fiction writer and essayist

Jami Attenberg is an American fiction writer and essayist. She is the author of a short story collection, six novels, including the best-seller The Middlesteins (2012), and a memoir, I Came All ThisWay to Meet You (2022).

<i>The Anthropocene Reviewed</i> Podcast and book by John Green

The Anthropocene Reviewed is the shared name for a podcast and 2021 nonfiction book by John Green. The podcast started in January 2018, with each episode featuring Green reviewing "different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale". The name comes from the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch that includes significant human impact on the environment. Episodes typically contain Green reviewing two topics, accompanied by stories on how they have affected his life. These topics included intangible concepts like humanity's capacity for wonder, artificial products like Diet Dr. Pepper, natural species that have had their fates altered by human influence like the Canada goose, and phenomena that primarily influence humanity such as Halley's Comet.

Stephanie Danler is an American author. Her debut novel, Sweetbitter (2016), was a New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a television show by the same name. She released a memoir, Stray, in 2020.

<i>Plain Bad Heroines</i> 2020 gothic novel by Emily M. Danforth

Plain Bad Heroines is a 2020 gothic novel by American author Emily M. Danforth. It was first published in the United States through William Morrow and is set at a girls' boarding school during 1902 and present day in New England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Oldman, Meg (2 July 2017). "Bestselling Author Marion Roach Smith Says, "Write What You Know!"". Paragon Road. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  2. ↑ Smith, Marion Roach (9 June 2011). The Memoir Project. ISBN   9780446584845. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ Slater, Joyce (November 17, 1985). "Book on Alzheimer's offers glimmer of hope". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. p. 222. Retrieved April 6, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 Rosenfeld, Ruth (October 15, 1985). "Roach gives personal account of Alzheimer's". Austin American-Statesman. Texas, Austin. p. 76. Retrieved April 6, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Paul, Jeanne (September 29, 1985). "Facing insidious treachery of Alzheimer's disease". The Baltimore Sun. Maryland, Baltimore. p. 10 M. Retrieved April 6, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Michael Baden, MD & Marion Roach". New York State Writers Institute. State University of New York. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  7. ↑ Lanham, Fritz (August 7, 2005). "To dye for: Redheaded author revels in power of birthright". Arizona Republic. Arizona, Phoenix. Houston Chronicle. p. E 4. Retrieved April 6, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Eckhoff, Sally (July 20, 2005). "The mystery and allure of redheads makes for a hot topic". Times Union . Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-06– via Chicago Tribune.
  9. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (August 28, 2005). "Nonfiction Chronicle". The New York Times .
  10. ↑ Kaye, D.H. (Summer 2002). "Review of Dead Reckoning". Jurimetrics. 42 (4): 501–503. JSTOR   29762784.
  11. ↑ Starrs, James E. (January–February 2003). "Crime scene scene". American Scientist. 91 (1): 84–86. JSTOR   27858167.
  12. ↑ Mair, Elizabeth Floyd (August 12, 2011). "Everyone has a memoir in them: Author Marion Roach Smith wants to teach people how to write about their lives with her new book". Star Tribune .
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Marion Roach". Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale. 2012-12-07. Archived from the original on 2020-04-05. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  14. ↑ Mair, Elizabeth Floyd (2011-08-07). "An author in all of us: Marion Roach Smith believes writing is good for everyone, and she just happens to have an instruction manual". Times Union . Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  15. ↑ Galehouse, Maggie (2011-06-20). "Author Marion Roach Smith explains how to put life experiences into words". Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  16. ↑ Bronstein, Scott (2001-10-20). "SLU Grad Overcomes Fears to Pen Forensics Book". Watertown Daily Times . Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  17. ↑ "The Board of Trustees". St. Lawrence University. Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  18. ↑ Ringler, Robyn (April 24, 2017). "Pushing Back: An Interview with College Student Grace Smith on Identity and Activism". Scoundrel Time.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.