Lacey Fosburgh (October 3, 1942 – January 11, 1993) was an American journalist, author, and academic best known for her controversial book, '' Closing Time: The True Story of the Goodbar Murder'' (1977).

Early life

Fosburgh was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York, to the journalist Hugh Whitney Fosburgh, author of ''View from the Air'' and other books, and his wife, Helen Edwards Fosburgh. She graduated from the

Brearley School The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, located on the Upper East Side neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. The school is divided into lower (kindergarten – grade 4), middle (grades 5–8) and upper (grades 9 ...

in Manhattan and Sarah Lawrence College.

Career

She began her writing career for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', where she worked as a staff reporter from 1968 to 1973. After leaving the ''Times'', Fosburgh continued to work as a freelance journalist for that publication and others, notably covering the Patty Hearst/

Symbionese Liberation Army The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...

case from 1974 to 1976, and the

Peoples Temple The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, originally Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church and commonly shortened to Peoples Temple, was an American new religious organization which existed between 1954 and 1978. Founded in Indianapolis, Ind ...

case in 1978. She was also one of the few people to interview reclusive author J. D. Salinger, in 1974. She taught journalism at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

. In 1977, Fosburgh—appropriating the title of Judith Rossner's acclaimed best-selling novel, '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1975)--published her first book, ''Closing Time: The True Story of the "Goodbar" Murder'', the story of the 1973 slaying of young schoolteacher

Roseann Quinn Roseann Quinn (November 17, 1944 – January 2, 1973) was an American schoolteacher in New York City who was stabbed to death in 1973 by a man she had met at a bar. Her murder inspired Judith Rossner's best-selling 1975 novel '' Looking for Mr. ...

, which Fosburgh had covered for ''The New York Times''. The book was selected by both the

Literary Guild The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a way to encourag ...

and Doubleday Book Club, and received a 1978 Edgar nomination for Best Fact Crime book. Although

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

remarked that the book proved Fosburgh "a skillful, selective reporter and also a literary artist", her mixing of fact and fiction (in a technique she called "interpretive biography") proved controversial. In 1980, Fosburgh admitted to ''The New York Times'' that she had "created scenes or dialogue I think it reasonable and fair to assume could have taken place, perhaps even did." Her second book, ''Old Money'' (1983), was a novel which was understood to be largely autobiographical, about growing up in a wealthy, troubled family. Her third book was ''India Gate'' (1991), a fictional family saga and mystery involving the children of American

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s in India.

Personal life

Fosburgh was married to Marc Libarle from 1973 to 1975. In 1977, she married the activist and author David Harris, and they had one child, Sophie.Pace
Lacey Fosburgh, Writer, 50, Dies; Novelist and True-Crime Author.
/ref> Fosburgh died aged 50 on January 11, 1993, of breast cancer.

Bibliography

* ''Closing Time: The True Story of the Goodbar Murder'' (1977) () * ''Old Money'' (1983) () * ''India Gate'' (1991) ()

Other works

1974 ''New York Times'' interview with Salinger

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fosburgh, Lacey 20th-century American novelists American women novelists American non-fiction crime writers Sarah Lawrence College alumni Deaths from breast cancer 1942 births 1993 deaths American women journalists 20th-century American women writers Women crime writers 20th-century American journalists Brearley School alumni