KAUFMAN, Miriam 1954-

PERSONAL:

Born January 2, 1954, in Cleveland, OH; daughter of Nathan (a pathologist) and Rita (a homemaker; maiden name, Friendly) Kaufman; partner of Roberta Benson (a retired lawyer); children: Jacob Benson Kaufman, Aviva Rose Benson Kaufman. Education: Duke University, B.S. (C.N.), 1976; Queen's University, M.D., 1980. Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Goldsmithing, knitting.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Hospital for Sick Children, Division of Adolescent Medicine, 555 University Ave. Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada.

CAREER:

Pediatrician and author. Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, staff physician, 1984-2002; University of Toronto, associate professor of pediatrics, beginning 1985. Member, Common Thread Community Chorus, 1999-2002.

MEMBER:

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Canadian Pediatric Society, Society of Adolescent Medicine, Ontario Medical Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named among Women on the Move, Toronto Sun, 1998; Claus Wirsig Humanitarian Award, Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, 1996.

WRITINGS:

All Shapes and Sizes: Promoting Fitness and Self-Esteem in Your Overweight Child, HarperCollins Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Easy for You to Say: Q and A's for Teens Living with Chronic Illness or Disability, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

(Editor) Mothering Teens: Understanding the Adolescent Years, Gynergy Books (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada), 1997.

Your Overweight Child, Firefly Books (Westport, CT), 2000.

Helping Your Teen Overcome Depression, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000, published as Overcoming Teen Depression: A Guide for Parents, Firefly Books (Westport, CT), 2000.

Contributor of weekly teen advice column to Toronto Sun, "Kaufman & Kaufman: Confidential," 2000-2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Sex & Disability, for Cleis Press; medical research in the area of health and value transplant.

SIDELIGHTS:

Canadian physician Miriam Kaufman is a long-time pediatrician whose books naturally focus on the topic of children's health. In Easy for You to Say: Q and A's for Teens Living with Chronic Illness or Disability, Your Overweight Child, and Helping Your Teen Overcome Depression, Kaufman creates excellent tools for children, counselors, and parents alike who are grappling with the challenges surrounding children growing up in a complex society. The mother of two children herself, Kaufman enjoys working with young people, both as patients and as a counselor. The author of an advice column for teens in the Toronto Sun for several years, she remarked to Sun contributor Elaine Moyle: "I love talking to kids. People have such interesting lives and thoughts and they tell doctors things they wouldn't tell anyone else."

In The Overweight Child: Promoting Fitness and Self-Esteem, Kaufman discusses the difficulties and stressful issues that surround overweight children, and provides tips on how to alter their lifestyle habits and diet to overcome this obstacle. She includes "a matter-of-fact collection of commonsense ideas presented in a reassuring, informative, and very readable manner," wrote Anne C. Tomlin in a review for Library Journal. Easy for You to Say: Q and A's for Teens Living with Chronic Illness or Disability answers question for teens grappling with various disabilities, focusing on such universal adolescent concerns as sex, relationships, dating, alcohol, drugs, and work, just to name a few. With a frank question-and-answer format, the book "is very helpful for a teen, or professional, who wants to know more about a specific condition," maintained Ann Barrett, although adding in her Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality review that the treatment among various medical conditions is not uniform. Stephanie Zvirin in Booklist noted that, "At times, Kaufman sounds a little too much like an all-wise counselor, but she's always frank and careful to remind teens to act safely and responsibly." Zvirin went on to praise Easy for You to Say as full of "information disabled teens often need but may be too embarrassed to ask for." Overall, Barrett added, "this book is one that I will consult, recommend and use as a teaching tool." In addition to being useful to teens themselves, Kaufman's book "should also be a reference book for their counselors, health care providers, parents, siblings and friends," the critic added.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 1995, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Easy for You to Say: Q and A's for Teens Living with Chronic Illness or Disability, p. 462.

Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, spring, 1997, Ann Barrett, review of Easy for You to Say, p. 70.

Library Journal, July, 2000, Anne C. Tomlin, review of The Overweight Child: Promoting Fitness and Self-Esteem, p. 130; April 15, 2001, Mary Ann Hughs, review of Overcoming Teen Depression: A Guide for Parents, p. 118.

Time, April 16, 2001, Amy Dickinson, review of Overcoming Teen Depression, p. 82.

Toronto Sun, January 24, 2001, Elaine Moyle, "This Doctor Is IN!"*