Linda Wolfe

Linda Wolfe
Born	Linda Wolfe November 15, 1932 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Author, Book Critic
Citizenship	American
Genre	True crime, journalism, criticism, non-fiction
Notable works	Wasted: The Preppie Murder, The Professor and the Prostitute
Website
www.lindawolfe.com

Linda Wolfe is an American journalist, essayist, and fiction writer. She is best known for her award-winning work, Wasted: The Preppie Murder, an investigation of the so-called "rough sex" killer, Robert Chambers. Critic John Leonard called Wolfe a writer of "fierce intelligence".^[1] Wolfe is also a distinguished book critic and a founding member of the National Book Critics Circle.

Writing

Wolfe's Wasted was nominated for an Edgar Award and named a "Notable Book of the Year" by The New York Times. In addition, Wolfe wrote several other books based on true crimes and events, such as Double Life: The Downfall of Judge Sol Wachtler.^[2] Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine,^[3] Vanity Fair, Ladies Home Journal, Playboy, and several other publications.^[4]

Career

Wolfe began her literary career in 1958 as an editorial assistant at Partisan Review alongside editors William Phillips and Philip Rahv. During her time at Partisan, Wolfe studied for a M.A. degree in American Literature at New York University and began research on what would be her first published work, The Literary Gourmet. This book would be one of the first to explore the ways and reasons the world's great novelists used dining scenes to illuminate character. In 1960 Wolfe started working for Time Inc., first in the copy department of Life Magazine, then as a researcher and writer for Time-Life Books, where she published her second book, The Cooking of the Caribbean Islands.

In 1971 Wolfe was asked by Clay Felker to write about food for New York Magazine and was soon named a contributing editor, a position she maintained for the next 25 years. From there Wolfe branched out to write about sexuality, social behavior, and crime, particularly about crimes committed by well-placed professional and academics. One of her better known articles is The Strange Death of the Twin Gynecologists, about twin New York Hospital physicians that were found dead in their apartment. This article would later help inspire the film Dead Ringers.^[5] Wolfe also twice served as a restaurant reviewer for New York Magazine in the 70s.

Wolfe also wrote about travel, starting an annual series called Island Travel that ran in New York Magazine from 1984 to 1994, as well as doing travel pieces for the New York Times, the New York Post, and Washington Post, among others.

Wolfe's interest in sexuality and social behavior would later lead to her writing Playing Around: Women and Adultery and The Cosmo Report: Women and Sex in the Eighties. Wolfe also wrote a profile named A Brief History of Alfred Kinsey, published as an introduction to the movie Kinsey^[6] as well as several articles for Playboy and Mirabella June.

Criticism

Wolfe's book reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post. The Boston Globe, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the St. Petersburg Times, and elsewhere. Her involvement with the National Book Critics Circle began in 1976, the year it held its first Awards Ceremony. She served on the governing board from 1997 to 2002 and from 2005 to 2010. In 2011 she started a book review column for the website FabOverFifty.com.

Early life and education

Wolfe was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Antioch College and Brooklyn College, graduating from Brooklyn College in 1955. She received an M.A.from New York University in 1959.

Personal life

Wolfe's first marriage was to the magazine editor and film publicist Joseph Wolfe. Her second marriage was to psychologist Max Pollack. She has one daughter and two stepdaughters.

Works

Books My Daughter/Myself 2013 THE MURDER OF DR. CHAPMAN: The Legendary Trials of Lucretia Chapman and Her Lover LOVE ME TO DEATH: A Journalist's Memoir of the Hunt for Her Friend's Killer 1998 WASTED: The Preppie Murder 1989, won Notable Book of the Year THE LITERARY GOURMET: Menus From Masterpieces Double Life: The Downfall of Judge Sol Wachtler 1994 The Murder of Dr. Chapman: The Legendary Trials of Lucretia Chapman and Her Lover 2004 Playing Around: Women and Adultery The Professor and the Prostitute and Other True Tales of Murder and Madness 1986 The Cosmo Report: Women and Sex in the Eighties 1981 The Cooking of the Caribbean Islands] 1971 The Literary Gourmet 1963 Articles MY MANHATTAN; On East Broadway, a Wide World Unfolds, July 11, 2003 In Step With Austen: English Country Dancing, March 7, 1997 HERS; Runaway Memory, April 2, 1995 And Baby Makes 3, Even if You're Gray, January 4, 1994 [; New York Woman - Suicide of Theodora Sklover], October 12, 1992 January 14, 1991 New York's Toughest Judges December 3, 1984 Dented Pride April 9, 1984 Death in the Video Arcade: A Story of Two Families February 6, 1984 Daylight Express: Trapped in a Turkish Prison October 17, 1983 The Death of an Idealist - Jacqui Bernard January 17, 1983 Transsexual Bartender and the Suburban Princess April 5, 1982 Mommy's 39, Daddy's 57 - And Baby was Just Born July 27, 1981 Taunted to Death - Death of Gerard Coury October 20, 1980 Tragedy on 89th Street - Irene Schwartz September 15, 1980 The Strange Case of Dr. Buettner-Janusch April 14, 1980 Lady Vanishes - Dr. Margaret Kilcoyne Contemporary Behavior, Sexuality, Psychology October 4, 1982 Growing up Absorbed August 9, 1982 The G Spot - Criticism July 19, 1982 The Next Sexual Hype - The G Spot May 7, 1979 When was the last time you called your mother January 10, 1977 The Coming Baby Boom February 17, 1975 Funny Valentine March 19, 1973 The Forbidden Couple

July 3, 1972 Can Adultery Save Your Marriage? June 5, 1972 A Time of Change April 17, 1972 The Masterses' Disciples: Sexual Therapy in New York January 31, 1972 Divorce - Dominican Style March 8, 1971 Psychotherapy Clinics: Walk in If You Can February 13, 1984 The Return of “Uncle” Gairy June 30, 1980 Olympus on 155th Street February 13, 1978 Mort Janklow: Friends Make the Man December 7, 1992 Fatal Error - The Death of Radio Man Rick Sklar April 25, 1983 Young Doctors at Sea: Caribbean Politics and Current Affairs January 14, 1980 Death by Botulism, A Medical Mystery MY MANHATTAN; On East Broadway, a Wide World Unfolds, July 11, 2003 WINTER IN THE SUN; Martinique, Deja Vu, but Different, October 25, 1998 Lingering in Languedoc, July 16, 1995 Book reviews Houston Law November 18, 1990 Psycho Killer, June 4, 1989 Crime in the Family, April 22, 1990 Crime/Mystery; In the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills, October 20, 1991 Men, Women, and Children First, April 27, 1986 One Night in Queens February 11, 1990 Australia Found Guilty, March 22, 1987 Filling in the Blanks, November 3, 1985 Restaurant reviews August 8, 1977 Small is Beautiful March 19, 1973 To Eat, Perchance to Dream August 30, 1971 A Room with a View

References

1. The New York Times, DATE TK.1980
2. Miller, Russell (September 28, 1994). "Chronicling the Complexities of a 'Double Life' : Literature: Linda Wolfe's latest book explores the affair between New York's top judge and his socialite mistress". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
3. Wolfe, Linda (11 July 2003). "My Manhattan; On East Broadway, a Wide World Unfolds". The New York Times. p. 27. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
4. "Biography". Retrieved 8 December 2011.
5. Miller, Russell (September 28, 1994). "Chronicling the Complexities of a 'Double Life' : Literature: Linda Wolfe's latest book explores the affair between New York's top judge and his socialite mistress". Los Angeles Times.
6. Kinsey: Public and Private (Newmarket Press, 2004)

External links

• Official website
• MY MANHATTAN; On East Broadway, a Wide World Unfolds
• In Step With Austen: English Country Dancing
• And Baby Makes 3, Even if You're Gray