Piper Kerman - wikipedia Piper Kerman Piper Kerman Kerman at the University of Missouri in 2014 Piper Eressea Kerman ( 1969 - 09 - 28 ) September 28, 1969 ( age 47 ) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. Alma mater Smith College Occupation Writer, author, memoirist Notable work Orange Is the New Black : My Year in a Women 's Prison Spouse ( s ) Larry Smith ( m. 2006 ) Website piperkerman.com Piper Eressea Kerman ( born September 28, 1969 ) is an American memoirist convicted of felony money - laundering charges ; her memoir Orange Is the New Black : My Year in a Women 's Prison about her experiences in prison was adapted into the critically acclaimed Netflix original comedy - drama series Orange Is the New Black. Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Criminal career 3 Later career 4 Personal life 5 Works 6 Interviews 7 References 8 External links 9 See also Early Life and education Kerman was born in Boston into a family with many attorneys, doctors, and educators. She graduated from Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts in 1987, and Smith College in 1992. She is a self - described WASP ( although her paternal grandfather was Russian Jewish ). Criminal career In 1993, Kerman became romantically involved with Catherine Cleary Wolters ( Nora Janson in her memoir ), a heroin dealer working for an alleged Nigerian kingpin. Kerman laundered money for the drug operation. In 1998, Kerman was indicted for money laundering and drug trafficking ; she subsequently pleaded guilty. Beginning in 2004, she served 13 months of a 15 - month sentence at FCI Danbury, a minimum security prison located in Danbury, Connecticut. During her sentence, the website `` The Pipe Bomb '' was set up to document her life behind bars. Later career Kerman published her best - selling memoir about her experiences in prison, Orange Is the New Black : My Year in a Women 's Prison, with Spiegel & Grau in 2010. A television adaptation of the same name created by Jenji Kohan, the Emmy award - winning creator of Weeds, debuted on July 11, 2013 on Netflix. Kerman 's character in the series ( `` Piper Chapman '' ) is played by Taylor Schilling. The series was renewed for a fourth season on April 15, 2015, before the third season premiered on June 11, 2015. A fifth season was released on June 6, 2017. Kerman serves on the board of the Women 's Prison Association and is frequently invited to speak to students of creative writing, criminology, gender and women 's studies, law, and sociology, as well as to groups, such as the American Correctional Association 's Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force, federal probation officers, public defenders, justice reform advocates and volunteers, book clubs, and formerly and currently incarcerated people. On February 10, 2014, Kerman received the 2014 Justice Trailblazer Award from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Center on Media, Crime & Justice. On February 25, 2014, Kerman testified at a hearing on `` Reassessing Solitary Confinement '' before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights chaired by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin. On August 4, 2015, Kerman testified at a hearing on `` Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons : First - Hand Accounts of Challenges Facing the Federal Prison System '' before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Ron Johnson. Since 2015, Kerman has worked as a communications strategist for nonprofits. Since her prison sentence, Kerman has spoken publicly many times on behalf of women in corrections and about her experience. Personal Life Kerman has stated, `` I 'm bisexual, so I 'm a part of the gay community ''. She says she came out of the closet around 18 years old and has identified as a lesbian for most of her youth. On May 21, 2006, Kerman married writer Larry Smith, who created the popular concept of Six - Word Memoirs. In a May 2015 interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Kerman confirmed that she and Smith are living in Columbus, Ohio, and that she is teaching writing classes at the Marion Correctional Institution and the Ohio Reformatory for Women in nearby Marysville, Ohio. Works `` Orange Is the New Black : My Year in a Women 's Prison '' `` Prison, Day 1 '', The New York Times, March 15, 2010 `` The Mistake That Nearly Cost Me Everything '', Marie Claire `` The Piper Kerman Is Going to Federal Prison FAQ '', Thepipebomb.com, Piper Kerman, Feb 1, 2004 Interviews Goldman, Lea ( March 9, 2010 ). `` Life Behind Bars ''. Marie Claire. Romero, Frances ( April 28, 2010 ). `` Behind the Bars : One Woman 's Year in Prison ''. Time. Conan, Neal ( April 6, 2010 ). `` ' Orange is the New Black ' in Federal Women 's Prison ''. Talk of the Nation. Ghomeshi, Jian ( August 15, 2013 ). `` '' Orange is the New Black '' Memoirist Piper Kerman ``. Q. AMA. Reddit. November 20, 2013 Levintova, Hannah ( October 25, 2013 ). `` How to Survive in a Women 's Federal Prison ''. Mother Jones. Rehm, Diane ( June 9, 2014 ). `` Piper Kerman on Her Story that Inspired the Netflix Series ' Orange is the New Black ' ''. The Diane Rehm Show. Sales, Leigh ( March 3, 2016 ). `` Orange is the New Black : Series Inspiration Piper Kerman on the Misconceptions About Incarceration ''. ABC News ( Australia ). Klein, Ezra ( July 14, 2014 ). `` The Real Piper of ' Orange is the New Black ' on How Prison is Broken ''. Vox. Mesley, Wendy ( June 12, 2015 ). `` Piper Kerman Author of Orange is the New Black ''. The National. References ^ Jump up to : Lee Ball, Aimee ( August 2, 2013 ). `` Prison Life, Real and Onscreen ''. The New York Times. ^ Jump up to : `` Piper Kerman and Larry Smith ''. The New York Times. May 21, 2006. Jump up ^ Solomon, Jared ( November 2, 2013 ). `` ' Orange is the New Black ' Author is Blue ''. Patch. Retrieved December 4, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Young, Robin ( July 29, 2013 ). `` The Woman Behind ' Orange is the New Black ' ''. WBUR - FM. Boston University. Retrieved August 15, 2013. Jump up ^ Kerman, Piper ( April 11, 2013 ). `` Response on Twitter ''. Twitter. Retrieved January 12, 2015. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) ^ Jump up to : Humphrey, Michael ( March 25, 2010 ). `` Ex-Convict Piper Kerman on Her Hot New Memoir, Orange Is the New Black ''. New York Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2010. Jump up ^ Segur, Liliana ( April 1, 2010 ). `` Orange Is the New Black : A Year in a Women 's Prison ''. Truthout. Retrieved May 8, 2010. Jump up ^ Grose, Jessica ( April 8, 2010 ). `` What 's a Nice Blonde Like Me Doing in Prison ? ''. Slate. Jump up ^ Paige, Rachel ( July 23, 2015 ). `` How Long Was Piper In Prison In Real Life ? The ' Orange Is The New Black ' Author Documented Her Time With A Website ''. Bustle. Retrieved April 13, 2016. Jump up ^ Seriófilo ( June 6, 2014 ), Habrá 3 temporada de Orange is the new black, renovada : estreno en primavera 2015. Netflix nos extiende la condena a disfrutar de la serie Jump up ^ `` 2014 Justice Trailblazer Award Dinner - Honoring Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black ''. jjay.cuny.edu. February 10, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Testimony of Piper Kerman, author, Orange is the New Black ''. YouTube. February 26, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Testimony of Piper Kerman, author, Orange is the New Black ''. Senate. August 4, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Piper Kerman ''. CityArts.net. Jump up ^ http://piperkerman.com/events/ Jump up ^ Lynn Yeldell. `` The REAL Piper of Orange is the New Black ''. L Style G Style. ^ Jump up to : Lynn Yeldell ( May 9, 2014 ). `` The REAL Piper of Orange is the New Black ''. L Style G Style. Retrieved July 18, 2014. Jump up ^ PopTech ( 2010 ). `` Larry Smith 's six - word project ''. PopTech. Retrieved April 20, 2014. Jump up ^ Jeannie Nuss. `` ' Orange Is the New Black ' author Piper Kerman shares her story in Westerville ''. The Columbus Dispatch. Jump up ^ Nuss, Jeannie ( May 31, 2015 ). `` Author of ' Orange Is The New Black ' explains move to Columbus ''. The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 31, 2015. External links Official website thepipebomb.com - The website about her incarceration ( mentioned in location 945 / 4958 of the OITNB ebook ) Piper Kerman on IMDb Appearances on C - SPAN `` Ubben Lecture ''. DePauw University. February 4, 2005. See also Teresa Giudice, reality star and media personality whose prison memoir, Turning the Tables ( 2015 ), describes her 15 - month incarceration from 2015 - 2016, for fraud, at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, CT Martha Stewart, celebrity who was incarcerated from 2004 - 2005, for offenses related to insider trading, at Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, WV Orange Is the New Black Characters Piper Chapman Alex Vause Crazy Eyes Nicky Nichols Tiffany Doggett Lorna Morello Miss Rosa Episodes Season 1 `` Lesbian Request Denied '' Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Related Piper Kerman Orange Is the New Black : My Year in a Women 's Prison `` You 've Got Time '' VIAF : 100682239 LCCN : n2009059713 GND : 1065186290 BNF : cb16922033d ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piper_Kerman&oldid=800549525 '' Categories : Living people 1969 births People from West Long Branch, New Jersey Smith College alumni American criminals American drug traffickers American people convicted of drug offenses People convicted of money laundering American memoirists Writers from Boston Bisexual writers Bisexual women LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT memoirists Prison reformers Criminals from Massachusetts LGBT people from Massachusetts Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from May 2014 Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2015 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Italiano Português Svenska Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 14 September 2017, at 06 : 39. 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Question: author of book orange is the new black
Answer: Piper Eressea Kerman