Lauren Kessler
Lauren Kessler is an American author, and immersion journalist who specializes in narrative nonfiction. She teaches storytelling for social change at the University of Washington and for the Forum of Journalism and Media in Vienna. Biography. Lauren Kessler's education includes Ph.D., University of Washington, 1980; MS, University of Oregon, 1975; and B.S.J., Northwestern University, 1972. Kessler is the author of ten works of narrative nonfiction including "A Grip of Time: When prison is your life" (Red Lightning Books, 2019), "Raising the Barre: Big Dreams, False Starts and My Midlife Quest to Dance The Nutcracker" (Da Capo Press , 2015); "Counterclockwise: My Year of Hypnosis, Hormones and Other Adventures in the World of Anti-Aging" (Rodale Press, 2013); and "My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence" (Penguin Books, 2011). Her book, "Dancing with Rose" (renamed "Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer's" in its paperback edition), won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and was named a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal. Her Oregon Book Award-winning book, "Stubborn Twig", was chosen to be the book all Oregon reads in celebration of the state's 150th birthday. Kessler  is also author of Washington Post best-seller "Clever Girl: Elizabeth Bentley, the Spy Who Ushered in the McCarthy Era", a biography of Elizabeth Bentley, and the Los Angeles Times best-seller and Oregon Book Award finalist "The Happy Bottom Riding Club", a biography of aviator Florence Pancho Barnes. David Letterman, in playful competition with Oprah, chose "The Happy Bottom Riding Club" as the first (and only) book for "Dave's Book Club." Kessler appeared on his show twice. Kessler's journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, O Magazine, Ladies  Home Journal, Woman's Day, Prevention (magazine), newsweek.com, salon.com, The Nation Magazine and Writer's Digest.