Burns, Cherie

PERSONAL: Married Richard L. Duncan (a journalist).

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Atlantic Monthly Press, 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

Stepmotherhood: How to Survive without Feeling Frustrated, Left Out, or Wicked, Times Books (New York, NY), 1985, revised edition, Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2001.

The Great Hurricane: 1938, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Also contributor to the New York Times, People, Glamour, Sports Illustrated, US, New York, Self, and Working Woman.

SIDELIGHTS: Cherie Burns is a nonfiction author who was one of the first of her generation to write about the difficulties of marrying into a modern family with children. In Stepmotherhood: How to Survive without Feeling Frustrated, Left Out, or Wicked Burns suggests ways to successfully cope and care for stepchildren. In a review of the revised edition of Stepmotherhood for the Stepfamily Association of America Web site, Patricia Schiff Estess commented that "Burns offers enough insights, observation, and examples of how others have handled situations and feelings to allow you to choose a path suited to your family." Burns has also spoken publicly about the adjustment involved in blending families.

Burns focuses attention on natural disasters with her next book, The Great Hurricane: 1938, which discusses the hurricane that hit New England in 1938, before the naming of storms, and more importantly, before the age of satellite-weather forecasting. Burns puts forward two ideas to explain why this storm is not more well known. First, the storm's place in history is between two more significant occurrences: the end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. Second, the storm struck before the media gave much attention to storms; therefore, the usual glut of images that document natural disasters do not exist for the great hurricane of 1938. Burns's book sets the stage for the hurricane by describing 1938 New England life as well as profiling several individuals who did not know they were in the path of the storm. San Diego Union Tribune contributor Robert Krier suggested that Burns "does perhaps a bit more table-setting than is necessary while describing the era and atmosphere of New England in the late 1930s, but she does an excellent job personalizing the disaster." This personalization is the subject of praise in many of the book's reviews. As a contributor to Publishers Weekly noted, "Burns's liberal use of detailed personal accounts gives the text a gripping intimacy."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, July 15, 2005, Jeff Labrecque, review of The Great Hurricane: 1938, p. 78.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2005, review of The Great Hurricane, p. 571.

Publishers Weekly, 2005, review of The Great Hurricane, p. 571.

San Diego Union Tribune, July 31, 2005, Robert Krier, review of The Great Hurricane.

ONLINE

Stepfamily Association of America Web site, http://www.saafamilies.org/ (October 14, 2005), Patricia Schiff Estess, review of Stepmotherhood: How to Survive without Feeling Frustrated, Left Out, or Wicked.