Lucette Lagnado
Encyclopedia
Lucette Lagnado is an American
journalist and memoirist. She is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Lagnado attended P.S. 205 in Bensonhurst, New York City, and is a graduate of Vassar College
. She is married to journalist Douglas Feiden, and lives in New York City
and Sag Harbor on the East End of Long Island.
She was born to a Jewish family in Cairo
, Egypt
, and wrote a prize-winning memoir about her childhood, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World. The book, published by Ecco, was awarded the 2008 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. The prize, which is administered by the New York-based Jewish Book Council
, comes with a $100,000 stipend and is the richest cash award in the Jewish literary world. The presentation of the Rohr Prize took place in Jerusalem in April, 2008. "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit" was optioned by producer Anthony Bregman ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), according to a December, 2008 announcement in Publishers Marketplace.
In November, 2008, Ecco announced it would publish a companion volume to "Sharkskin" that would tell the story of Lagnado's mother, Edith. "The Arrogant Years: One Girl's Search for Her Lost Youth, from Cairo to Brooklyn" juxtaposes the author's own coming of age in New York with that of her mother in Cairo, revealing how the choices she made meant both a liberation from Old World traditions and the loss of a comforting and familiar community. Described by the publisher as an epic family saga of faith and fragility, the books has a publication date of Sept. 6, 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist and memoirist. She is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
Lagnado attended P.S. 205 in Bensonhurst, New York City, and is a graduate of Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
. She is married to journalist Douglas Feiden, and lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Sag Harbor on the East End of Long Island.
She was born to a Jewish family in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and wrote a prize-winning memoir about her childhood, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World. The book, published by Ecco, was awarded the 2008 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. The prize, which is administered by the New York-based Jewish Book Council
Jewish Book Council
The Jewish Book Council, founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of quality English language books of Jewish content in North America". It is the only...
, comes with a $100,000 stipend and is the richest cash award in the Jewish literary world. The presentation of the Rohr Prize took place in Jerusalem in April, 2008. "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit" was optioned by producer Anthony Bregman ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), according to a December, 2008 announcement in Publishers Marketplace.
In November, 2008, Ecco announced it would publish a companion volume to "Sharkskin" that would tell the story of Lagnado's mother, Edith. "The Arrogant Years: One Girl's Search for Her Lost Youth, from Cairo to Brooklyn" juxtaposes the author's own coming of age in New York with that of her mother in Cairo, revealing how the choices she made meant both a liberation from Old World traditions and the loss of a comforting and familiar community. Described by the publisher as an epic family saga of faith and fragility, the books has a publication date of Sept. 6, 2011.
Honors and prizes
- Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature
- Mike Berger Award
- Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards (Three time winner)
- Columbia Journalism Review “Laurel”
- USC Annenberg School’s Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, finalist 2004