| Meredith Maran | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951, August 21 New York |
| Occupation | Journalist, novelist, essayist, critic, People Magazine stringer |
| Alma mater | Bronx High School of Science |
| Period | 1957 - Present |
| Genres | Memoir, Non-Fiction, Features, Essays, Autobiography, Fiction |
| Notable work(s) | My Lie (San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010”), Dirty (San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2003”), Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip (National Bestseller), Class Dismissed (San Francisco Chronicle bestseller 2000), What It’s Like to Live Now (San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, 1995). |
| Spouse(s) | Katrine Thomas |
| Children | Peter Graham, Jesse Graham |
| Relative(s) | Josie Maran (niece), supermodel, actress, eco-entrepreneur, CEO of Josie Maran Cosmetics |
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www.meredithmaran.com |
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Meredith Maran (born 1951, in New York) is a journalist and writer. She has written eight books, several of them San Francisco Chronicle best-sellers. She writes features, essays, and book reviews for People, Self, Real Simple, Vibe, Ladies Home Journal and Mother Jones and contributes regularly to Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, Family Circle and More magazines. Maran’s storytelling is regarded as colorful, compelling, sympathetic, and evocative.[1] Her memoir, My Lie, has been described as a persuasive, compelling critique of media and psychology.[2]
Contents |
Maran's first memoir, Chamisa Road, was published in 1971 by Random House. Her second book, How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay?, was published in 1991 by Alyson Press. The book is a children's book about gay/lesbian issues.
What It’s Like To Live Now was published in 1995 by Bantam. It captures the contradictions and ambiguities of the modern American experience. Maran's fourth book, Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip, was published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster. What It's Like To Live Now became a Bay Area Bestseller. Ben & Jerry's Double Dip became a national bestseller.
Notes From An Incomplete Revolution was published in 1997, by Bantam. The book is written in first-person, with the narrator acknowledging the limitations and failings of feminism while still rejoicing in the power of the women's movement.
Maran’s book, Class Dismissed, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2000. The book presents an account of the stark realities of public education via a year in the lives of three high school seniors from Berkeley High.[3] Class Dismissed was praised by critics and spent 15 weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list.[4]
Dirty, which explores the causes and consequences of America’s teenage drug epidemic, was published in 2003, by HarperSanFrancisco. The book brings the reader face-to-face with seventeen-year-old Mike, whose life revolves around selling, smoking, and snorting speed; fifteen-year-old Tristan, the boy next door who cannot get enough pot, pills, or vodka; and sixteen-year-old Zalika, a runaway, crack dealer, and prostitute since the age of twelve. In Dirty, Maran combines powerful on-the-street reporting, groundbreaking research, and compassion, to showcase the anguish and resilience of teenagers in trouble.
According to Psychology Today:
"Dirty is eye-opening and compassionately delivered...a sympathetic evocation of ecstasy, heartbreak, horror, and hope. Provocatively revealing, informative, and not without humor, Dirty is itself an addictive read."[5]
My Lie, published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, is a memoir which recounts the sex-abuse panic spread across the U.S., during the 1980s and 1990s. Maran’s refusal to whitewash her own behavior, her ability to expose all sides of the issue, and her compassion for the abused as well as those still falsely imprisoned as abusers opens up a dialogue about memory, belief, and past- and present-day culture that is both riveting and important.[6] Maran is especially credible because of the number of years she spent working in the child abuse prevention area.[7]
According to the National Center for Reason and Justice:
"It’s about time someone such as [Meredith Maran] wrote a book like [My Lie]. I urge anyone interested in late 20th century culture, gender conflicts, social influence, and human suggestibility to read My Lie."[8]
My Lie was named a San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010,” and San Francisco Chronicle “Notable New Book”.[9]
Maran published her first national magazine article at age 15 and her first book at age 18. After a brief stint in Silicon Valley, Maran became Editor of the Banana Republic Magalog, then created award-winning socially responsible marketing campaigns for companies including Ben & Jerry's, Working Assets, Stonyfield Farm, Smith & Hawken, and Odwalla.
In addition to writing books, features, essays, and book reviews, Maran has been a keynote speaker at venues including the 2008 SNAP Conference, the California Writer's Club, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Education Writers of America. From 2004-2006 she was Writer in Residence at UCLA. In 2006 she was Writer in Residence at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos.
In an interview with TIME.com, Maran explained how and why she decided to write her memoir, My Lie.[10] She explained that in 2007, a hiking acquaintance had asked if she had ever done anything she still regretted. Maran replied that she had accused her father of molesting her, and hadn’t spoken to him for eight years. Maran [later] realized that the accusation wasn’t true. Maran’s hiking acquaintance said that exactly the same thing had happened to her. That prompted Maran to address the examples and abuses that included false accounts—and the pain and suffering inflicted on people who were innocent like her father—in order to answer the question: “How could it happen that people who never suffered such harrowing experiences would come to believe that they had?”[11]
