Genre: Non-fiction

Most recent publication: "Reconceptions: Modern Relationships, Reproductive Science and the Unfolding Future of Family"

Why did you choose to become an author? I'm a journalist, and I felt drawn to publish a book because books have the chance of lasting impact and longevity. 

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? I loved my literature and writing classes at Fieldston, which gave me the confidence to pursue a writing career. 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Most recent publication: "Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece"

Why did you choose to become an author? I have a great love of classical Greece and Periclean Athens and wanted to bring that world to life for myself and others. I sought immersion -- for myself and my readers -- in that brilliant and complex time. I wanted to walk the streets of ancient Athens and illuminate the stream of cause and effect that raised it to the highest peaks and thrust it to disaster.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? I first discovered classical Greece in my 9th grade ancient history class at Fieldston and it has been central in my work and imagination ever since. While writing a report for the class, I encountered Pericles' famous oration in which he outlines a vision of democracy that we're still living with. That was it for me -- I was thrilled by greatness.

Genre: Fiction and Non-fiction

Most recent publication: "Why Writing Matters" 

Why did you choose to become an author? This title is my 31st book and should suggest an enduring belief: that writing does and should matter as career.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? By establishing and confirming the conviction that literature counts. All else has followed as the night the day.

Genre: Mysteries

Most recent publication: "The Greenleaf Murders: A Historic Homes Mystery"

Why did you choose to become an author? Nothing is more fun than creating a story.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? I had some really terrific English teachers who taught me how to read critically and write well.

Genre: Non-fiction

Most recent publication: "The Rejection That Changed My Life: 25+ Powerful Women on Being Let Down, Turning It Around, and Burning It Up at Work"

Why did you choose to become an author? I don't make a living as an author; I work at Smith College as director of Reflective and Integrative Practices. But writing is part of what I do because it is a way to understand and think through topics that feel hard to discuss.

 How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Opportunities for creativity were woven into life at Fieldston; as an adult, I am still eager to find opportunities to be creative.

Genre: Literary Fiction, Suspense

Most recent publication: "The Latecomer"

Why did you choose to become an author? I have always been a writer since attending Ethical Culture, but Betty Prashker at Crown Publishers made me an author by accepting my first novel (or at least, the first to be published!) in 1995.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Fieldston's profound dedication to the humanities and the broad range of human experience has had a lifelong impact. The School has often appeared, often in altered forms, in my work, especially in You Should Have Known (aka HBO'S The Undoing) and The Latecomer.

Genre: Non-fiction

Most recent publication: "“How to Talk to a Widow" (Lead Opinion piece in The NY Times)

Why did you choose to become an author? I realized I could write. Then a friend said, "Why don't you write a book." So I did. Then I wrote another and another--mixed with magazine jobs that somehow worked out very well. After a detour as a Correspondent for NBC News, I went back to books.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Aside from great teachers the students were a unique mix and for me, the students were teachers too.

Genre: Non-fiction

Most recent publication: "Inside/Outside: Adventures in Caribbean History and Anthropology"

Why did you choose to become an author? Being an author goes with becoming an anthropologist.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Fieldston was good preparation for Harvard University and encouraged my interest in human rights.

Genre: Business-focused Memoir 

Most recent publication: "Let’s Be Frank: A Daughter’s Tribute to Her Father, the Media Mogul You’ve Never Heard of"

Why did you choose to become an author? I was inspired to finish the book my late father started but didn’t finish before he died.

What is your favorite memory from Fieldston? Meeting my husband, Dax Munna, on the field at practice after school!

Genre: Poetry

Most recent publication: "Notes on the Creation"

Why did you choose to become an author? Had no choice. It chose me.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Deeply and broadly.

Genre: Poetic Non-fiction, Poetry,  Essays, Short Stories

Most recent publication: "Moving Through the Empty Gate Forest: Inside Looking Out"

Why did you choose to become an author? Writing chose me as much as I chose it -- it is something innate.

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Exposure to a variety of literature, including reading novels in Spanish, helped.

If you would like to be included, please fill out the form here. 

Genre: Non-fiction Self help

Most recent publication: "Narrative Healing: Awaken the Power of Your Story"

Why did you choose to become an author?
I always knew I was a writer, but it wasn't until I started my book Narrative Healing that I felt the urgency needed to transform an idea into a finished book. 

My hope is that if we start to listen to the body when it whispers, we won’t have to wait for it to scream to hear what it has to say, and we will thus have the capacity to listen to others too. 

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Hugely! I learned how to trust myself, follow my intuition and pursue being of service to the world around me at Fieldston. I also developed a great passion for writing, reading and all things publishing-related at Fieldston -- mostly in Bob Montera's classroom and newsroom. Additionally, over the years I've had the opportunity to work one on one with a number of Fieldston graduates on their own writing and have helped shepherd their work in the world, including Ethan Nichtern, Laura Khoudari, Julian Tepper and others.

Genre: Education 

Most recent publication: "Teach for Authentic Engagement"

Why did you choose to become an author?I’ve always loved to write, but I didn’t start writing for educators until 2013 -- I was describing values-based curriculum design to one of my colleagues and he said, “You should really think about writing a book about this.”

How has Fieldston influenced your career path and career? Fieldston was where I grew up—twice. As a student, I felt seen, cared for and even loved. As a teacher at Fieldston Middle, I learned how to create opportunities for students to do work that felt meaningful, both to them personally and in the world. Participation, belonging, and authenticity were important to me while I was a student, and those are the values that have guided my practice as an educator. On my best days, I created the kind of environment that my teachers at ECFS created for me: one where students felt like their work mattered and they mattered. My writing is an attempt to empower more educators to empower their students.