Biography of Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott (born April 10, 1954) is an American novelist and non-fiction writer.She is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Lamott is based in Marin County, California. Her nonfiction works are largely autobiographical. Lamott's writings, marked by their self-deprecating humor and openness, cover such subjects as alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity.
Life and career
Lamott was born in San Francisco, and is a graduate of Drew School. She was a student at Goucher College for two years where she wrote for the newspaper. Her father, Kenneth Lamott, was also a writer. Her first published novel Hard Laughter was written for him after his diagnosis of brain cancer. She has one son, Sam, who was born in August 1989 and a grandson, Jax, born in July 2009.Lamott's life was documented in Freida Lee Mock's 1999 documentary Bird by Bird with Annie: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott. Because of the documentary and her following on Facebook and other online networks, she is often called the "People's Author".
Lamott has described why she writes: I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness—and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine.
Lamott was featured on the second episode of the first season of the show The Midnight Gospel.
Awards and honors
Lamott was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985. She was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2010.
Personal life
On April 13, 2019, when Lamott was 65, she wed for the first time. She married Neal Allen, 63, a former vice president for marketing at the McKesson Corporation in San Francisco. The couple had met in August 2016 through OurTime, a matchmaking site for people over 50. He was a twice-divorced father of four, who had left his job at McKesson to devote himself to writing.
Bibliography
Novels
Hard Laughter. Viking Press. 1980. ISBN 0-670-36140-2.
Rosie. Viking Press. 1983. ISBN 0-670-60828-9.
Joe Jones. North Point Press. 1985. ISBN 0-86547-209-2.
All New People. North Point Press. 1989. ISBN 0-86547-394-3.
Crooked Little Heart. Pantheon Books. 1997. ISBN 0-679-43521-2.
Blue Shoe. Riverhead Books. 2002. ISBN 1-57322-226-7.
Imperfect Birds. Riverhead Books. 2010. ISBN 978-1-59448-751-4.
Non-fiction
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year. Pantheon Books. 1993. ISBN 978-0-679-42091-0.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Pantheon Books. 1994. ISBN 978-0-679-43520-4.
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. Pantheon Books. 1999. ISBN 978-0-679-44240-0.
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. Riverhead Books. 2005. ISBN 978-1-57322-299-0.
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. Riverhead Books. 2007. ISBN 978-1-59448-942-6.
Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son. Riverhead Books. 2012. ISBN 978-1-59448-841-2. (with Sam Lamott)
Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. Riverhead Books. 2012. ISBN 978-1-59463-129-0.
Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair. Riverhead Books. 2013. ISBN 978-1-59463-258-7.
Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace. Riverhead Books. 2014. ISBN 978-1-59448-629-6.
Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy. Riverhead Books. 2017. ISBN 9780735213586.
Almost Everything: Notes on Hope. Riverhead Books. 2018. ISBN 978-0525537441.
Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage. Riverhead Books. 2021. ISBN 978-0593189696.
References
Further reading
Bochynski, Pegge. (2010) "Anne Lamott" in American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement XX, Mary Antin to Phillis Wheatley. Ed. Jay Parini. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons p131-146.
Bouris, Karen (Jan–Feb 2013). "Anne Lamott : life as a black-belt codependent". Interview. Spirituality & Health. 15 (6): 48–53. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
Vandenburgh, Jane. (2010) Architecture of the Novel: A Writer's Handbook. Anne Lamott (Foreword). Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint ISBN 1582435979
External links
Works by or about Anne Lamott in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Anne Lamott on Facebook
Salon.com: articles by Anne Lamott
Profile – Steven Barclay Agency Archived 2007-06-07 at the Wayback Machine
Write TV Public Television Interview (2004)
Minnesota Public Radio Interview (2007)
Interview for Writers on the Record (2007)
Goodreads.com: Author profile: Anne Lamott
TED.com: "12 truths I learned from life and writing", a talk by Anne Lamott (2017)
