Lesley M. M. Blume

Lesley M. M. Blume is an award-winning journalist, author, and cultural observer based in New York City.

The daughter of a classical pianist and a journalist, she followed her father’s footsteps into the newsroom, beginning her career at The Jordan Times in Amman and Cronkite Productions in New York City. She later became an off-air reporter and researcher for ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel in Washington, D.C., where she helped cover the historic presidential election in 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a myriad of other events and topics.

Now writing full-time, Ms. Blume contributes regularly to Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal and Departures magazine; her work has appeared in many additional publications, including Vogue, The Paris Review Daily, Slate, and The Daily Beast, among others. Ms. Blume also co-created and served as founding editor of The Window, Barneys New York’s online fashion and culture magazine.

She is currently working on her first major biography, detailing Ernest Hemingway’s early years in Paris and the real-life story behind his iconic debut novel, The Sun Also Rises. The book will be released in 2016 by Eamon Dolan Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the publication of The Sun Also Rises.

In 2010, Chronicle Books released Let’s Bring Back, Ms. Blume’s cultural encyclopedia celebrating hundreds of forgotten-yet-delightful objects, pastimes, fashions, delectables, and personalities from bygone eras. It was deemed “whimsical … comical … [and] delightful” by The New Yorker and many other publications. Following the success of this initial volume, Chronicle released a top-selling series of topic-specific new editions of Let’s Bring Back – including Let’s Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition (fall 2012) and Let’s Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition (spring 2013), as well as a line of ancillary products. She also co-created a line of Let’s Bring Back-inspired jewelry in collaboration with renowned design house Lulu Frost.

In addition, Ms. Blume is the author of It Happened Here (Thornwillow Press, 2011), a book detailing the raucous social history of New York City’s St. Regis Hotel. The book is the first volume of Thornwillow’s new “Libretto series,” which will showcase the work of literary lions past and present, including Peter Matthiessen and Lewis Lapham. Ms. Blume has also collaborated on a variety of book projects with acclaimed photographers, including Vogue contributors Claiborne Swanson Frank (American Beauty, 2011) and Stephan Wurth (Ghost Town, 2011).

For the amusement of children, Ms. Blume has authored three critically acclaimed novels, all published by Knopf. Her debut novel, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters, has sold over 300,000 copies. Upon the release of her third children’s novel, Tennyson, reviewers compared her to writers Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and Truman Capote (“Brilliant, unusual writing.”—The Chicago Tribune). Ms. Blume’s first collection of short stories for children, Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties, was released in 2010; her second collection – The Wondrous Journals of Wendell Wellington Wiggins – debuted in fall 2012. Knopf will release her next children’s novel in spring 2015.

Vogue recently picked Ms. Blume as a founding member of the Vogue 100, an organization of “influential decision makers and opinion leaders known for their distinctive taste in fashion and culture, [and who] personify the rising influence of women over the past several decades.” Her individualistic personal style has been showcased in many publications, including Vanity Fair; Elle; O, The Oprah Magazine; Women’s Wear Daily; Style.com; and the websites of American Vogue and Vogue Italia.

Ms. Blume studied history at Williams College, Oxford University, and Cambridge University, where she was a Herchel Smith scholar.

She lives in Greenwich Village with her family.

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