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Anne Lamott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anne Lamott
Born (1954-04-10) April 10, 1954 (age 70)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • nonfiction writer
  • essayist
  • memoirist
Alma materDrew School
Goucher College
GenreDrama, humor, literary fiction, Reviews

Anne Lamott (born April 10, 1954) is an American novelist and nonfiction writer.

She is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Lamott is based in Marin County, California. Her nonfiction works are largely autobiographical.[1] Lamott's writings, marked by their self-deprecating humor and openness, cover such subjects as alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity.[2]

Early life and education

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Lamott was born in San Francisco, and is a graduate of Drew School. She was a student at Goucher College for two years where she wrote for the newspaper.[3] Her father, Kenneth Lamott, was also a writer. Her first published novel Hard Laughter was written for him after his diagnosis of brain cancer. She has one son, Sam, who was born in August 1989 and a grandson, Jax, born in July 2009.[4][5]

Career

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Lamott's life was documented in Freida Lee Mock's 1999 documentary Bird by Bird with Annie: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott.[6] Because of the documentary and her following on Facebook and other online networks, she is often called the "People's Author".[7]

Lamott has described why she writes:

I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness—and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine.[8]

Lamott was featured on the second episode of the first season of the show The Midnight Gospel.

Awards and honors

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Lamott was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985.[9] She was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2010.[10]

Personal life

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On April 13, 2019, Lamott married Neal Allen, 63, a former vice president for marketing at the McKesson Corporation in San Francisco. The couple met in August 2016. He is a twice-divorced father of four, who left his job at McKesson to devote himself to writing.[11]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Hard Laughter. Viking Press. 1980. ISBN 0-670-36140-2.
  • Rosie. Viking Press. 1983. ISBN 0-670-60828-9.
  • Joe Jones. North Point Press. 1985. ISBN 0-86547-209-2.
  • All New People. North Point Press. 1989. ISBN 0-86547-394-3.
  • Crooked Little Heart. Pantheon Books. 1997. ISBN 0-679-43521-2.
  • Blue Shoe. Riverhead Books. 2002. ISBN 1-57322-226-7.
  • Imperfect Birds. Riverhead Books. 2010. ISBN 978-1-59448-751-4.

Nonfiction

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References

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  1. ^ "Author Anne Lamott selling Marin home for $1.199 million". The Mercury News. July 15, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  2. ^ Lamott, Anne (May 22, 2006). "My son, the stranger". Salon. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  3. ^ Flanagan, Mark. "Anne Lamott". About Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Hetter, Katia (April 6, 2012). "Anne Lamott's directions for grandparents: 'Some Assembly Required'". CNN. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  5. ^ Brennan, Keri (July 15, 2017). "Author Anne Lamott selling Marin home for $1.199 million". MercuryNews.com. Bay Area News Group. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Freida Lee Mock (Director) (August 1, 1999). Bird by Bird with Annie (Documentary). Vanguard International Cinema.
  7. ^ Smiley, Tavis (April 14, 2010). "Interview with Anne Lamott". PBS. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  8. ^ "Quote of the Day". Religion Blog. Dallas Morning News. February 10, 2008.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Anne Lamott - Fellow - 1985 - Fiction". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  10. ^ Tagg, Mariel. "2010 CA Hall of Fame, red carpet induction ceremony". Sacramento Press. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  11. ^ Brady, Lois Smith (April 26, 2019). "The Writer Anne Lamott Gets to the Happily-Ever-After Part". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2020 – via NYTimes.com.

Further reading

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  • Bochynski, Pegge. (2010) "Anne Lamott" in American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement XX, Mary Antin to Phillis Wheatley. Ed. Jay Parini. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons p131-146.
  • Bouris, Karen (January–February 2013). "Anne Lamott : life as a black-belt codependent". Interview. Spirituality & Health. 15 (6): 48–53. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  • Vandenburgh, Jane. (2010) Architecture of the Novel: A Writer's Handbook. Anne Lamott (Foreword). Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint ISBN 1582435979
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