Joan Gould

Joan Gould (born February 27, 1927, New York City) is an American author and journalist.[1][2] As a freelance journalist in the 1960s, Gould contributed articles to publications such as Esquire Life, Sports Illustrated, McCall's and The New York Times.[2] She helped to plan and was the inaugural columnist of the Times' "Hers" column, for "intelligent, involved women".[3]

Her first book, Otherborn (1980), was a science fiction novel for young adults. She has also published Spirals: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life (1988) and Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life (2005).

Writing

After attending Bryn Mawr College where she studied with W. H. Auden,[4] she worked as a freelance journalist in the 1960s, contributing articles to a variety of publications. Most notably, she wrote about boat racing for Esquire.[5]

In 1980, Gould wrote her first book, Otherborn, a science fiction novel for young adults. The book follows a shipwrecked brother and sister who are stranded on a Pacific Island inhabited by an unusual race of people.[6]

In 1976, at a Manhattan party, Gould suggested the idea of a column for "intelligent, involved women" to A. M. Rosenthal, editor of The New York Times. With Gould's assistance, Rosenthal developed the New York Times' "Hers" column,[3] "designed as a forum for writing by women."[7] Gould became its first columnist.[3]

Her pieces focus on the unique relational roles women play in the lives of their families and friends. She draws from her own experiences as a widow navigating the world without her longtime partner.[8] An avid sailor, Gould also wrote about finding her sense of self on the open water: "For a while, a boat is more than a boat, and I am more than a blunderer. I am myself."[9]

Gould chronicles her husband's illness and subsequent death from cancer in her 1988 book, Spirals: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life.[10] Gould writes about her evolving roles and responsibilities as her husband dies and as her children grow up:[11]

"What do I count for, after all, now that my daughter is a wife and a mother and a working woman besides, now that my son is a professional man and the equal of his father, who isn't a professional man any longer, while I'm without employment?"[11]

Gould's travel writing has also been featured in the NY Times travel section.[12] Some of her work was included in Katharine Lee Bates collection Spain: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times (2001).[2][13]

In 2005, Random House published Gould's feminist examination of cultural lore, Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life.[14][15]

"Fairy tales tell us that a day comes when we are due to wake up to a new reality, come to life again transformed... with a sense of wonder at how far we've come," she writes, "along with a twinge of nostalgia for the person we used to call 'me' but for whom we no longer have a name."[16]

Critical response

Gould's memoir, Spirals, received a rave review in the New York Times. The reviewer, Bob Greene, called the book "unlike anything I have ever read before," and praised its honest representation of life's banalities:[17]

The real truths of our lives do not make the 6 o'clock news, and do not make the front page of the newspaper; life is far too important to permit that. Many people, including many journalists, don't understand this. Joan Gould does...

— Bob Greene[17]

Spirals was selected a New York Times Editor's Choice the week of July 24, 1988.[18]

Personal life

After graduating, she married Martin Kleinbard, a lawyer. They were married for twenty-eight years,[19] until his death from cancer in 1978. They had three children.[20] Their marriage and family life serves as the inspiration for much of her writing.[17]

Select works

References
  1. Dornan, Edward A.; Dawe, Charles W. (December 1, 1996). The Longwood Reader. Allyn & Bacon, Incorporated. p. 402.
  2. "Gould, Joan 1927–". Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  3. Diamond, Edwin (1993). Behind the Times : inside the new New York Times (University of Chicago Press. ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780226144726. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  4. Gould, Joan (October 31, 2012). Spirals: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780307826459.
  5. Gould, Joan (April 1, 1967). "Nine Intrepid Men". Esquire. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. Gould, Joan (1980). Otherborn: a novel. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 9780698204973. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  7. Gould, Joan (November 6, 1980). "Hers : THERESA, in suburban parlance the girl who shampoos my hair, is no girl at all" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  8. Gould, Joan (December 11, 1980). "Hers : For well over a year after my husband's death, I was unable to look through my telescope" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  9. Gould, Joan. "Hers; In sport, as in art, we reveal ourselves". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  10. "SPIRALS: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life". Kirkus Reviews. Random House. April 6, 1988. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. Gould, Joan (1988). Spirals: A Woman's Journey Through Family Life. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0394554976.
  12. Gould, Joan (January 31, 1993). "Musings from the underworld". New York Times.
  13. Bates, Katharine Lee (2001). Spain: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times. New York, NY: Abbeville Press.
  14. "Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life". Kirkus Reviews. Random House. February 22, 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  15. Gould, Joan (2005). Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780394585321. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  16. "SPINNING STRAW INTO GOLD: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  17. Greene, Bob (July 17, 1988). "Love in Spite of Us". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  18. "BEST SELLERS: July 24, 1988". The New York Times. July 24, 1988. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  19. Gould, Joan (November 13, 1980). "Hers: HOW rich, strange and tumultuous are the romances we conduct after death". The New York Times. p. 59. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  20. "Martin Kleinbard, Lawyer, at 59; Headed Unit Aiding Immigrants". The New York Times. December 19, 1978. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
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