Lippe, Toinette 1939-

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LIPPE, Toinette 1939-

PERSONAL: Born March 12, 1939, in London, England; immigrated to the United States, 1964; daughter of Frank Leon (a toy manufacturer) and Nan (Hyams) Rees; married Neil Preston Lippe (a jewelry designer), December 23, 1975 (divorced); children: Adam. Religion: "Jewish, with Buddhist leanings." Hobbies and other interests: Yoga, tai chi chuan, Chinese brush painting, traveling and writing about it.

ADDRESSES: Home and offıce—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, J. P. Tarcher, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10015. E-mail—toinette@bellatlantic. net.

CAREER: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, editor and reprint rights director, 1969-2000. Harmony Books, New York, NY, founder and editorial director of Bell Tower imprint, 1989—.

WRITINGS:

Nothing Left Over: A Plain and Simple Life (memoir), J. P. Tarcher (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Tricycle, Parabola, Shambhala Sun, and Science of Mind.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Caught in the Act, "more reflections on the nature of being and doing and their relationship to one another," for J. P. Tarcher (New York, NY), publication expected in 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Toinette Lippe told CA: "I have always felt that my life and my work were organic. Bell Tower, the imprint I started at Harmony Books in 1989, publishes books that are 'spiritually useful'—sacred teachings from all traditions. I have been delighted to discover that the manuscripts that are submitted to me by would-be authors often contain whatever life lessons I need to learn next. When I started to write Nothing Left Over: A Plain and Simple Life, I found that something similar happened; whatever floated into my mind or happened to me during the day formed the grist for my writing mill. Since the essence of Nothing Left Over—which I describe as a book on 'interior housekeeping'—is about not wasting anything, when my life provides me with insights on what truly matters, I write these down as they come along, and, of course, am moved to share them with readers who seem to find them as useful as I do. For years I have gone on pilgrimages to faraway places and, since I have bad camera karma, I write long travelogs which I e-mail to a large roster of friends and family. These have become known as 'Travels with Toinette' and gave Joel Fotinos, my friend and the publisher of J. P. Tarcher, the confidence to ask me to write my book."