Lisle, Laurie 1942-

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Lisle, Laurie 1942-

PERSONAL:

Born September 11, 1942, in Providence, RI; daughter of Laurence Lisle (in crafts and business) and Adeline Simonds (a homemaker); married Albert B. Litewka, January 6, 1978 (divorced, 1984); married Daniel B. Meltzer (a writer), June 20, 1986 (divorced, 1992); married Robert Kipness (an artist), December 17, 1994. Education: Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A., 1965. Religion: Unitarian-Universalist.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Winchester County, NY; Sharon, CT. Agent—Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency, Inc., 65 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012.

CAREER:

Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin, Providence, RI, reporter, 1965-66; Newsweek, New York, NY, researcher and reporter, 1970-77; freelance writer, beginning 1978; Southampton College, Southampton, NY, associate professor of English, 1981-82; Council for the Humanities, speaker in the humanities, 2000-02. Connecticut Council for Humanities discussion leader and Southern Connecticut Library member, 1989-2002. Member of Democratic Town Committee of Sharon, CT.

MEMBER:

Authors Guild, Century Association, PEN American Center.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellowships, Millay Colony for the Arts, 1980, Ossabaw Island Project, 1981, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 1982, and MacDowell Colony, 1983.

WRITINGS:

Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe, Seaview Books (New York, NY), 1980, revised edition, University of New Mexico Press (Albuquerque, NM), 1986.

Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life, Summit Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Without Child: Challenging the Stigma of Childlessness, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Four Tenths of an Acre: Reflections on a Gardening Life, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Journal of the Southwest, Village Voice, and Notable American Women.

SIDELIGHTS:

Laurie Lisle has written biographies of two strong women artists, painter Georgia O'Keeffe and sculpture Louise Nevelson. Of Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe, a London Times contributor wrote: "What is remarkable about Laurie Lisle's biography is not its style (straightforward), nor its sexual revelations (she is inordinately discreet by today's standards), but the clear sense it conveys of the roots and workings of O'Keeffe's genius, what Stieglitz called her ‘whiteness’ and its ability never to be waylaid by the Person from Porlock." Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life was equally respected. According to a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, the book satisfyingly chronicles Nevelson's career from initial obscurity to fame, depicting the sculptor as a "sad, guarded woman for whom art was life."

In Without Child: Challenging the Stigma of Childlessness, Lisle addresses the often controversial subject of women who are not able, or choose not to, have children. Herself voluntarily childless, Lisle explores the many factors that contributed to her own decision but also examines the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of many other women, from past eras as well as contemporary times. The book belies many stereotypes about childless women, showing that ambivalence toward maternity has been an age-old condition and that, throughout history, childless women have played important roles within families. Lisle also includes a chapter about childless men—a section that Pamela W. Garner, writing in Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, considered one of the book's most interesting. Garner noted that Lisle's "account of her own experiences is refreshing and is giftedly woven" into the book, and observed that one of the important points that Lisle makes is that "a woman's identity is multifaceted and comprised of more than their roles as caretakers and mothers." Booklist reviewer Donna Seaman hailed Without Child as a "groundbreaking" and "invaluable" work.

On her Web site, Lisle describes her fourth book, Four Tenths of an Acre: Reflections on a Gardening Life, as a "modern pastoral that describes country life through the ‘green glasses’ of a gardener." The book gives an account of Lisle's decision, after moving from New York City to a small town in northwest Connecticut, to create a garden in her small, weedy yard. She describes her struggles with pests, weeds, and weather, while providing insights from professional horticulturalists and literary gardeners. Booklist reviewer Carol Haggas found Lisle's meditations on gardening "elegant, eloquent reminders of the importance of listening to your inner muse." A writer for Kirkus Reviews enjoyed Four Tenths of an Acre as both a memoir of creating a garden and an edgy "story of coming to live in a place as a total stranger and of joining the community." The book, according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "will satisfy armchair gardeners as well as those already elbow-deep in dirt."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Art in America, March, 1981, Ella Foshay, review of Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe, p. 25.

Booklist, February 1, 1996, Donna Seaman, review of Without Child: Challenging the Stigma of Childlessness, p. 907; May 1, 2005, Carol Haggas, review of Four Tenths of an Acre: Reflections on a Gardening Life, p. 1556.

Canadian Woman Studies, June 22, 1998, review of Without Child, p. 164; June 22, 2001, Stephanie Dickison, review of Without Child, p. 147.

Changing Times, October, 1981, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 72.

Christian Science Monitor, April 14, 1980, Alexandra Johnson, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 12; June 8, 1981, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 25.

Interview, February, 1990, Lisa Liebmann, review of Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life, p. 159.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2005, review of Four Tenths of an Acre, p. 276.

Library Journal, April 1, 1980, Gloria K. Rensch, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 851; February 15, 1990, Hara Seltzer, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 194; November 1, 1995, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 124; November 1, 1995, Peter Josyph, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 124.

Maclean's, June 30, 1980, Anne Collins, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 48.

Mademoiselle, May, 1980, Joyce Carol Oates, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 76.

Ms., July, 1980, Patricia Bosworth, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 31; September 1, 1990, Joan Philpott, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 28.

Nation, June 7, 1980, Lucy R. Lippard, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 694.

National Review, March 7, 1980, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 300.

New York Post, March 12, 1996, review of Without Child.

New York Review of Books, March 26, 1987, Robert M. Adams, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 34.

New York Times Book Review, May 11, 1980, Janet Hobhouse, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 13; May 10, 1987, Patricia T. O'Conner, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 34; March 25, 1990, Michael Brenson, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 15.

Progressive, April, 1981, Charles-Gene McDaniel, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 59.

Publishers Weekly, March 14, 1980, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 62; January 12, 1990, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 55; February 22, 1991, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 217; January 8, 1996, review of Without Child, p. 52; April 4, 2005, review of Four Tenths of an Acre, p. 54.

Quill and Quire, June, 1980, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 39.

Reference & Research Book News, spring, 1987, review of Portrait of an Artist.

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, February, 2000, Pamela W. Garner, review of Without Child, p. 309.

Smithsonian, August, 1980, James Idema, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 102.

Tribune Books, March 11, 1990, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 6.

Wilson Library Bulletin, December, 1988, Jean Martin, review of Portrait of an Artist, p. 113.

Women's Art Journal, spring-summer, 1993, review of Louise Nevelson, p. 37.

Women's Times, June, 2005, Michelle Gillett, review of Four Tenths of an Acre, p. 26.