| Joan Gould | |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 1927 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, New York |
| Death Place: | Rye, New York |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | Bryn Mawr College |
| Genre: | Science fiction |
| Subjects: | --> |
| Spouses: | --> |
| Partners: | --> |
Joan Gould (February 27, 1927 – August 20, 2022) was an American author and journalist.[1] [2] As a freelance journalist in the 1960s, Gould contributed articles to publications such as Esquire Life, Sports Illustrated, McCall's and The New York Times.[2] She helped to plan and was the inaugural columnist of the Times "Hers" column, for "intelligent, involved women".
Her first book, Otherborn (1980), was a science fiction novel for young adults. She has also published Spirals: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life (1988) and Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life (2005).
After attending Bryn Mawr College where she studied with W. H. Auden,[3] she worked as a freelance journalist in the 1960s, contributing articles to a variety of publications. Most notably, she wrote about boat racing for Esquire.[4]
In 1980, Gould wrote her first book, Otherborn, a science fiction novel for young adults. The book follows a shipwrecked brother and sister who are stranded on a Pacific Island inhabited by an unusual race of people.[5]
In 1976, at a Manhattan party, Gould suggested the idea of a column for "intelligent, involved women" to A. M. Rosenthal, editor of The New York Times. With Gould's assistance, Rosenthal developed the New York Times "Hers" column,[6] "designed as a forum for writing by women."[7] Gould became its first columnist.[6]
Her pieces focus on the unique relational roles women play in the lives of their families and friends. She draws from her own experiences as a widow navigating the world without her longtime partner.[8] An avid sailor, Gould also wrote about finding her sense of self on the open water: "For a while, a boat is more than a boat, and I am more than a blunderer. I am myself."[9]
Gould chronicles her husband's illness and subsequent death from cancer in her 1988 book, Spirals: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life.[10] Gould writes about her evolving roles and responsibilities as her husband dies and as her children grow up:
Gould's travel writing has also been featured in the NY Times travel section.[11] Some of her work was included in Katharine Lee Bates collection Spain: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times (2001).[2] [12]
In 2005, Random House published Gould's feminist examination of cultural lore, Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life.[13] [14]
Gould's memoir, Spirals, received a rave review in The New York Times. The reviewer, Bob Greene, called the book "unlike anything I have ever read before," and praised its honest representation of life's banalities:
Spirals was selected a New York Times Editor's Choice the week of July 24, 1988.[15]
After graduating, she married Martin Kleinbard, a lawyer. They were married for twenty-eight years,[16] until his death from cancer in 1978. They had three children.[17] Their marriage and family life serves as the inspiration for much of her writing.
Gould died in Rye, New York on August 20, 2022, aged 95.[18]