Letty Cottin Pogrebin

A founding editor and writer for Ms. magazine, Ms. Pogrebin is also the author of twelve books, most recently, Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy. Her diverse titles include How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick; Getting Over Getting Older; two novels, Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate and Three Daughters; and the feminist classic, Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America. She is also the editor of the anthology, Stories for Free Children, and was consulting editor on Free to Be, You and Me, Marlo Thomas’ ground-breaking children’s book, record and television special.

Besides her nearly 20 year affiliation with Ms. magazine, Ms. Pogrebin has published articles and op-eds in The New York Times, Washington Post, Time magazine, Huffington Post, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, L.A. Times, Toronto Star, The Nation, Harpers Bazaar, and Travel & Leisure, among other publications.

A leader in many social justice causes, she served two terms as president of The Authors Guild, and two terms as Chair of the Board of Americans for Peace Now.

Her devotion to advancing inter-group harmony inspired her participation in a longstanding Black-Jewish dialogue group, as well as in a number of Jewish-Palestinian dialogue groups, one of which is still ongoing after 14 years. She was also a founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus; the Ms. Foundation for Women; the UJA-Federation Task Force on Women; and the International Center for Peace in the Middle East.

Ms. Pogrebin currently serves on the boards of Americans for Peace Now, the Ms. Foundation for Education & Communication, the Free to Be Foundation, the Brandeis University Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Combatants for Peace and The Authors Guild (ex officio). Her honors include a Yale University Poynter Fellowship in Journalism; an Emmy Award for Free to Be You and Me; inclusion in Who’s Who in America; and dozens of commendations from a variety of NGOs, civic organizations and religious and educational institutions.

A graduate of Brandeis University, she is a 2018 inductee in the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame. In December, she and her husband will celebrate their 60th anniversary. They split their time between New York City and Stockbridge, MA.