Passages book gail sheehy biography

American writer

Gail Sheehy (born Gail Henion; November 27, 1936^[1] – August 24, 2020)^[2] was change American author, journalist, and pedagogue. She was the author admire seventeen books and numerous high-profile articles for magazines such owing to New York and Vanity Fair.

Sheehy played a part jacket the movement Tom Wolfe christened the New Journalism, sometimes read out as creative nonfiction, in which journalists and essayists experimented take on adopting a variety of fictitious techniques such as scene everlasting, dialogue, status details to symbolize social class, and getting soul the story and sometimes proclamation the thoughts of a basic character.

Many of her books focus on cultural shifts, plus Passages (1976), which was called one of the ten greatest influential books of our time by the Library of Congress.^[3] Sheehy penned biographies and diagram studies of major twentieth-century leading, including Hillary Clinton, both presidents Bush, Prime Minister Margaret Stateswoman, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, extra Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.

Cross most recent book, Daring: Unfocused Passages (2014), is a memoir.^[4]

Sheehy's article "The Secret of Pasty Gardens", a cover story propagate the January 10, 1972, question of New York, brought nobility bizarre bohemian life of Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and cousin Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale to disclose attention.

Their story was illustriousness basis for the film Grey Gardens and a Broadway dulcet of the same name.

Early life and education

Gail Sheehy was born in Mamaroneck, New Dynasty, to Lillian Rainey Henion playing field Harold Merritt Henion.^[5] Her mother's family was Scots-Irish. Her granny, Agnes Rooney ran away disseminate Northern Ireland to the Leagued States as a mail-order bride.^[5] Another part of her mother's family was Scottish and affected the Ulster plantation for Unequivocally landowners.^[5]

Growing up, Sheehy was point in the right direction to her paternal grandmother, Gladys Latham Ovens.

Ovens' husband locked away died of a stroke by the Great Depression—and after recognized died, Ovens went to uncalledfor as a real estate officiate in a career that lasted for over 40 years.^[5] Ovens bought Sheehy her first typewriter at age 7.^[5] When gorilla an adolescent, Sheehy began fail sneak into New York Movement on Saturday mornings to go over with a fine-too, her grandmother kept her secret.^[5]

In 1958, Sheehy graduated from depiction University of Vermont with deft Bachelor of Arts in Honestly and home economics.^[5] She consequent returned to school in 1970, earning her Master of Subject in journalism from Columbia Sanatorium, where she studied on a- Rockefeller Foundation fellowship under honesty cultural anthropologistMargaret Mead.^[5]

Career

1960s

Sheehy's first function after college was working ask for the J.

C. Penney wing store chain. Sheehy traveled crossed the country putting on enlightening fashion shows for college living quarters economics departments.^[5] It was sagacity that Sheehy began writing professionally—she wrote for the company's magazines and worked with ad agencies to make informational filmstrips.^[5]

The adjacent few years, a young hitched Sheehy supported her husband amount medical school and began pretty up work as a journalist.

Sheehy moved to Rochester, New Dynasty, where she found a not wasteful as a journalist for depiction Democrat and Chronicle in 1961.^[5] She wrote for the women's page and for the Shapely feature section.^[5] Sheehy and move up husband then moved to significance East Village in New Dynasty City.

Sheehy became a indigenous, but continued to work act various publications including the World Telegram for a brief previous in 1963 and then grandeur New York Herald Tribune^[5] non-native 1963 to 1966.^[5] Sheehy fixed to leave her daily flier job to become a worker journalist.^[5] Sheehy and her accumulate divorced in 1968.

Sheehy participated in a number of vital and significant cultural events contain the 1960s including covering Parliamentarian F. Kennedy's campaign and Woodstock. Sheehy was one of high-mindedness original contributors to New Royalty magazine^[5] and contributed from 1968 through 1977. Clay Felker, progenitor of the magazine, and Sheehy's future husband, encouraged Sheehy explicate write "big" stories; one on the way out the first was following Parliamentarian Kennedy on the campaign track in 1968.

She traveled write down the campaign to the Westside Coast and had access difficulty interview Kennedy directly. Sheehy was en route back to Modern York when Kennedy was assassinated in California.^[5] Sheehy covered blue blood the gentry rise of amphetamine use keep New York after her preserve became addicted.^[5] Sheehy helped renounce sister get off drugs stake they attended Woodstock in method to hide from her sister's drug pusher.^[5]

In 1969–70, Sheehy was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation companionship to attend graduate school exceed Columbia University.

While there, she studied under professor and anthropologist Margaret Mead who was thence in her seventies.^[5] Inspired stomachturning Mead, Sheehy investigated cultural trends with articles on "The Fragmented Family" in New York periodical. During a commencement speech problem at the University of Vermont, Sheehy credited Mead with activist her to become a native interpreter:^[5] 'Whenever you hear on every side a great cultural phenomenon—a wheel, an assassination, a notorious probation, an attack on the country—drop everything.

Get on a trainer or train or plane unthinkable go there, stand at rendering edge of the abyss, pivotal look down into it. Bolster will see a culture unclean inside out and revealed fall a raw state."^[6][7]

1970s

In the Decennary, Sheehy's portfolio of high contour articles grew and she began to author books.

In depart from to writing for New York magazine, she also wrote straighten up monthly article for Cosmopolitan--her cap story had her travel consent India to meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his disciples.^[5]

Several spectacle Sheehy's articles for New York magazine were developed into books.

This includes her novel Lovesounds (1970), Panthermania: The Clash time off Black against Black in Make sure of American City (1971), and Hustling: Prostitution in Our Wide Geographical Society (1973).^[5] Lovesounds is smashing psychological novel that deals defer the dissolution of a matrimony based on her own cap marriage.

Her Random House reviser, Nan Talese, suggested that Sheehy use a Rashomon-style for leadership novel, alternating the story in the middle of the wife and husband. Talese also loaned Sheehy the dump of an apartment to copy in.^[5]

In 1971, Sheehy wrote fine series of articles on gratis for New York magazine named the "Wide Open City." She used the New Journalism accept which includes vivid description current narration for the article "Redpants and Sugarman."^[5] Sheehy later came under fire for fictionalizing uncomplicated character which was a multiplex.

Clay Felker accepted blame idea taking out the paragraph narrative the use of composites incarcerated the article.^[5] Sheehy's story was chronicled in the book Hustling and later made into put down NBC1975 television movie of rank same name, starring Jill Clayburgh as Redpants and Lee Remick as the journalist.^[5] According expectation producer, George Pelecanos, Sheehy was the inspiration for a newscaster character in the HBO keep in shape, The Deuce.^[8]

The summer of 1971, Sheehy and Felker rented a-ok house in East Hampton.

Sheehy and her daughter found fact list abandoned box of bunnies instruction since they could not get them back to New Dynasty, Sheehy's daughter suggested they extract the kittens to the "witch house" across the street. Bang was there that Sheehy be in first place encountered Little Edie Beale boss her mother Big Edie Beale, the reclusive cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis living in unembellished dilapidated 28 room mansion dubbed Grey Gardens.^[5] Sheehy spent justness next few weekends of dump summer on the beach change Little Edie learning about their story.

Sheehy profiled the span women in New York journal in "The Secret of Ashen Gardens".^[9] After the article was published, Onassis came forward engross a check for $25,000 seat help clean up the money. Little Edie and Big Edie were profiled in 1975 exertion the Grey Gardens documentary dampen the Maysles brothers.^[5]

Sheehy traveled endorsement Northern Ireland in 1972 recognize report on the Irish unit involved in the Irish cosmopolitan rights movement.^[5] The British polity had created the Special Faculties Act that allowed British general public to round up Catholic joe six-pack.

The women and family men and women left behind became fierce fighters. She was next to ingenious young boy right after fastidious march, and as British joe public moved in, the boy was struck in the face hunk a bullet. That day, Jan 30, 1972, became known because Bloody Sunday or the Bogside Massacre. Sheehy was trapped lining a Catholic ghetto which was under the authority of grandeur IRA.

She made her bolt in a car over pasture to Dublin. There Sheehy journey to several safe houses dispatch interviewed Rita O'Hare. The vast experience affected Sheehy deeply abide on her return to nobility States she had a tricky time writing the story sports ground developed a fear of airplanes which she later described restructuring PTSD or posttraumatic stress syndrome.^[5]

It was at this time welcome the mid-seventies that Sheehy began work on her book, Passages.^[5] After conducting about forty interviews for a book on couples—Sheehy noticed a theme within unit interviewees who were in their late thirties and early mid-forties.

The subjects expressed being inconstant. At this time, Sheehy began studying work by Elliott Jacques on mid-life crisis between decency ages of thirty-five and 40 as well as works indifference Erik Ericson on adult growth stages. Sheehy coined the designation "Second Adulthood" to describe representation equilibrium that follows the crisis.^[5] It was during this patch that Sheehy's long-time editor Calm down Scharlatt died and the seamless was taken over by Ass Macrae, the publisher of Dutton.^[5] Sheehy was awarded a sharing alliance by the Alicia Patterson Basis to allow her to put to death the book.^[5] Sheehy's editor was concerned that the title would make readers think that stick it out meant "excerpts," but Sheehy was confident they would understand nobility title once they read blue blood the gentry book.^[5]Passages was published in 1976.^[5] Sales spread through word-of-mouth during the time that it landed on The Newborn York Times Best Seller Bill where it would remain sustenance three years.^[5]

During this time term, Sheehy, as both a essayist for New York magazine don Felker's partner, was a front-row witness to Rupert Murdoch's acrid takeover of Clay Felker's New York magazine.

Felker was awkward out of the magazine.^[5] Felker purchased Esquire magazine in 1978 and Sheehy wrote for description magazine including publishing a outline and interview with Anwar Sadat.^[5]

In 1977, Sheehy became an hit it off of the Women's Institute irritated Freedom of the Press (WIFP).^[10] WIFP is an American non-profit-making publishing organization.

The organization frown to increase communication between battalion and connect the public engage forms of women-based media.

Sheehy began work on her press forward book, Pathfinders, in 1978.^[5] Interpretation book examined the lives make known those who had led lives that many would consider succumb have led full lives, post attained a sense of advance.

In developing the book, Sheehy worked with social psychologists bear out New York University to follow a Life History questionnaire which was given to many punters, including "corporate chiefs, congressmen, joe public & women lawyer, etc."^[5] Blue blood the gentry questionnaire was also published hem in Redbook and Esquire magazines.

Sheehy then conducted hundreds of dealings interviews for the book, annulus she identified that those who attained well-being have a agreeableness to take risks and maintain experienced one or more key transitions in their adult length of existence which they handled in nourish unusual, personal, or creative way.^[5]

1980s

Sheehy began her work with Asiatic refugees in the early 1980s.^[5] Sheehy was invited by Extreme LadyRosalynn Carter to participate nuisance other prominent Americans in smashing Cambodia Crisis Center.

While appointment Thailand in 1981, Felker grubby out a story about skilful camp of Cambodian orphans which prompted Sheehy to visit influence camp. It was at that camp that Sheehy met nearby later adopted her second colleen, Mohm. Sheehy also worked defer Catherine O'Neill to publicize justness plight of refugees through authority Women's Refugee Commission.

Sheehy brook Mohm chronicled their journey make a way into the 1986 book, Spirit show consideration for Survival.

Vanity Fair's editor, Tina Brown, invited Sheehy to inscribe political profiles for the journal beginning in 1984.^[5] Her be in first place profile was of U.S.

statesmanly candidate Gary Hart.^[5] Sheehy followed this up with pieces mess other presidential candidates including Martyr H. W. Bush, Al Impale, Bob Dole and Jesse Politician. These profiles also served laugh the basis for her 1988 book, Character: America's Search tutor Leadership.^[5][11]

Sheehy helped organize the Shrivel Harbor Initiative with William Pickens, Pat Pickens, and Walter Isaacson among others in 1987.^[5] Character initiative was initially a three-day event put on by "liberal intellectuals and concerned citizens" who wanted Americans across the state to hold town meetings simulate discuss urgent social issues.^[12] Isaacson went on to be conductor and CEO of Aspen Matter Festival.

1990s

During the 1990s, Gail Sheehy published five books with Gorbachev: The Making of integrity Man Who Changed the World (1990),^[13]The Silent Passage (1992),^[14]New Passages (1995),^[15]Understanding Men's Passages (1998),^[16] squeeze Hillary's Choice (1999).^[17]

In 1989, Tina Brown asked Sheehy to swell her character profiles for Vanity Fair to include international figures.^[5] Sheehy researched and interviewed both Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Statesman.

Her article on Thatcher was published as "The Blooming commemorate Margaret Thatcher" in 1989.^[5][18] Yield profile of Gorbachev made probity February 1990 Vanity Fair surpass as "Red Star: The Male Who Changed the World".^[5] Sheehy expanded her research on Statesman, and published the book The Man Who Changed the World: The Lives of Mikhail Unmerciful.

Gorbachev just as he won the Nobel Peace Prize duct a few short months previously he was deposed.^[5][19][20] Charmed jam the relationship between Gorbachev tell Thatcher, Sheehy also wrote first-class play based on a imagination romance called Maggie and Misha.^[5] The play was produced sort a two-week workshop production off-Broadway.^[5]

Sheehy published the book The Implicit Passage about menopause in 1992.^[5] Sheehy noticed that no flavour was talking about menopause tell she, herself, was beginning with respect to experience it.

After a June 1992 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the book went back for a number learn reprints and eventually hit loftiness #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list.^[5][21] Sheehy received a million-dollar advance raid Simon & Schuster for class paperback rights.^[5]

Sheehy and Felker affected to the Bay Area get a hold California in 1994 where Felker taught and founded the Felker Magazine Center at the School of California, Berkeley.^[22][5]

Sheehy profiled Mountaineer Clinton a total of join times for the pages stencil Vanity Fair in the Decennium, beginning with her time chimp First Lady and through churn out run for the New Dynasty Senate.

The articles and run away with culminated in the publication deserve the biography, Hillary's Choice.^[5]

2000s president 2010s

Despite caring for Felker type he was suffering from person, Sheehy continued to write jaunt publish through the 21st hundred. In 2006, she published Sex and the Seasoned Woman mud which she interviewed "over Cardinal women from the ages break into 23 through 98." She in print an article with Parade periodical, "Who Cares for the Caregiver?"^[23] After Felker's death in 2008, Sheehy was named AARP's Caregiving Ambassador in 2008 and began working with the AARP conundrum a series of articles, interviews of caregivers through video, opinion blog posts.^[24] She eventually wrote a book on the occupational of caregiving, Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence which was published in 2010.^[25] She also wrote a play, Chasing the Tiger, about her arrogance with Felker.^[26][27]

Sheehy published her deteriorate memoir in 2014, Daring: Turn for the better ame Passages.^[5][28] In 2019, she was an Audio Podcast Fellow be neck and neck Stony Brook University, where she created and produced her podcast series Kid Rebels with Gail Sheehy.^[29][30]

Personal life

In 1960, Sheehy joined Albert Francis Sheehy, a medicinal student at the University comment Rochester.

They had one lassie, Maura, and divorced in 1968. In 1984, Sheehy married redactor Clay Felker, with whom she adopted a Cambodian child, Mohm. Felker died in 2008.

Sheehy died in Southampton, New Royalty, on August 24, 2020, use up complications of pneumonia at raze 83.^[1][31]

Selected articles

1969: "Speed City: Authority Explosion of Amphetamines", New York magazine

Sheehy wrote the cover narrative for New York magazine create the growing problem of speed use among young people joy East Village.

The article arose out of Sheehy's own experience—her sister had become addicted decide the drug.^[5] The cover call upon the story was created by means of Milton Glaser of a glide writhing out of a cure capsule.^[5]

1971: "Redpants and Sugarman", New York magazine

Sheehy gained notoriety block out 1971, after New York paper published a series she wrote about prostitution called "Wide Direct City".^[32] Part 2 is cryed "Redpants and Sugarman".^[32] Sheehy sit in judgment The Washington Post that she had created a "composite character" for "Redpants" in order switch over trace the full life procession of a streetwalker, but greatness explanation was edited out be fond of the story.^[5]

1989: "The Blooming decompose Margaret Thatcher", Vanity Fair

Published divide June 1989: French President François Mitterrand says Britain's prime preacher "has eyes like Caligula soar the mouth of Marilyn Monroe." She also has the evil spell of a five-star general playing field increasingly, the sexual charisma slant a woman in her landmark.

She manipulates her court be the owner of bedazzled male advisors with depiction skill of Elizabeth I. Presentday as she completes her rare tenth year in office, grandeur most powerful woman in representation world has vanquished the hopeful, gagged the media, and booted out the critics in say no to own party.

So who interest there left to tell irregular when she goes too far?

1992: "What Hillary Wants", Vanity Fair

Sheehy's 1992 article on Mountaineer Clinton^[33] created a stir uncongenial quoting her mentioning rumors after everything else an affair between President Martyr H. W. Bush and straight woman named "Jennifer".

Sheehy account that Clinton complained that position media had made much buck up Gennifer Flowers' affair with Expenditure Clinton but did not setting into the Bush transgression. Town considered that portion of birth interview off the record, however Sheehy disagreed, and independently ingrained the "private conversation" Hillary locked away described by interviewing Hillary's counsellor, Atlanta Journal & Constitution holder Anne Cox Chambers, who persistent the conversation word for little talk.

Fact checkers for Vanity Fair alerted editor Tina Brown knowledge a potential problem, based itchiness their review of the interpretation of the interview, but Brownness declined to remove the mention. The interview received wide amount in the press.

1995: "The Inner Quest of Newt Gingrich", Vanity Fair

Sheehy learned the move away story of Newt Gingrich's have a go from his mother, who unclosed that she was a lifetime manic-depressive.

Kit Gingrich's first lock away abandoned young Newt to graceful stepfather in exchange for acquittal of a few months be fond of child-support payments. "Isn't it wrong, a man willing to trade off his own son?" Accoutrements Gingrich told Sheehy. Speaker defer to the House Gingrich told Sheehy that both his fathers were totalitarian and modeled "a untangle male kind of toughness".

Misstep did not blink when Sheehy asked him if he concept he had a genetic disposition to bipolar disorder. He put into words he did not know, so applauded the special powers remind you of leaders who are thought greet have been bipolar. "Churchill challenging what he called his 'black dog'. Lincoln had long periods of depression." He speculated mosey leaders who are able deal think on several levels miniature once may have a contrastive biochemical makeup.

"You have nick have a genetic toughness reasonable to take the beating" take action told Sheehy. Her article too revealed that his wife send up the time, Marianne Gingrich, frank not want him to junction president and threatened to shake to and fro a revelation that would ruffian his 1995 presidential campaign.

2000: "The Accidental Candidate: George Defenceless.

Bush", Vanity Fair

Sheehy found fine possible source of the malapropisms for which Governor Bush was mocked: a history of dyslexia in the Bush family. Characteristic experts told her that "The errors you've heard Governor Mill make are consistent with dyslexia," and that "a language-disordered private cannot take in a monitor of information at once." Sheehy predicted that if Bush became president, "he would have allot develop a work-style where balance pre-organized and pre-digested information apply for him." Karl Rove and Pecker Cheney, she suggested, organized unnecessary of the candidate's speeches obscure decisions.

2008: "Hillaryland at War", Vanity Fair

Published June 30, 2008: Hillary Clinton's campaign had keep back all: near-death moments, hard-won triumphs, dysfunctional relationships—and a staff frenetic with infighting over how lend your energies to sell their candidate. It was a battle that revealed reason she came so close traverse victory, as well as ground she did not make introduce.

Professional affiliations

In 2009 Sheehy was named AARP's Caregiver Ambassador. Exertion 2011 she became a oversee for the National Osteoporosis Foundation's "Generations of Strength" campaign.^{[citation needed]}

Television and other media appearances

Sheehy was a frequent guest on NBC's The Today Show, MSNBC's Hardball and What Now? with Andrea Mitchell, ABC's World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, Good Daybreak America, Oprah, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, Larry King Live, Slick operator News, The O'Reilly Factor, trip documentaries such as PBS's "American Experience: Clinton".

In July 2015, Sheehy appeared for an examine on Huffpost Live to converse about her 2014 work, Daring.^[34]

Plagiarism lawsuit

Sheehy's book Passages was a staterun bestseller. In 1975, Roger Fossilist, then a psychiatrist at interpretation University of California at Los Angeles, brought a suit, which was settled out of cultivate, against Sheehy intended to tell publication of her book, which had not yet been accomplished.

Sheehy ended up giving Dr. Gould ten percent of illustriousness royalties for the book.^[5]

Awards focus on recognition

A Library of Congress research named Passages one of authority 10 most-influential books of green paper time.^[36]

Bibliography

Non-fiction

• Speed is of the Essence (1971), ISBN 978-0-671-77283-3
• Panthermania:The Clash of Inky Against Black in One English City (1971)
• Hustling: Prostitution in Interaction Wide Open Society (1973)
• Passages: Expected Crises of Adult Life (1976)
• Pathfinders: Overcoming the Crises of Grown up Life (1983)
• Spirit of Survival (1987)
• Character: America's Search for Leadership (1991)
• The Man Who Changed the World: The Lives of Mikhail Cruel.

  Gorbachev (1991)

• The Silent Passage: Menopause (1993)
• New Passages: Mapping Your Have a go Across Time (1995)
• Understanding Men's Passages: Discovering the New Map find Men's Lives (1998), ISBN 0-6794-5273-7; Psychologist & Schuster Australia, 1998, ISBN 0-7318-0743-X
• Hillary's Choice (1999)
• Middletown, America: One Town's Passage from Trauma to Hope (2003)
• Sex and the Seasoned Woman: Pursuing the Passionate Life (2007)
• Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos run into Confidence (2010)
• Daring: My Passages: Excellent Memoir (2014)

Novels

References

External links