Fern Lee Kupfer is an American author and retired professor of creative writing at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. She has written several novels and as well as memoirs reflecting on her life experiences, the discovery that she is a carrier of the BRCA gene, and the loss of her son to Canavan disease.

Life and career

Kupfer was born in 1946 and grew up in

Plainview, Long Island Plainview is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Oyster Bay in east central Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 27,100. The Plainview post office has the ZIP code 11803. Plainv ...

. In 1968 she received her BA from

State University of New York at Cortland The State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland, C-State, or Cortland State) is a public university in Cortland, New York. It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History The State Univ ...

. She moved to Iowa with her first husband in the early 1970s after having been a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

English teacher and working at a

day care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

center in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

.Balk, Brenda and Mitchell, Jeff (11 March 2002)
"Kupfer maintains connections"
''

Iowa State Daily The ''Iowa State Daily'' is an independent student newspaper serving Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, that is published in print and online. It was founded in 1890, and is largely funded by advertising revenues. The Iowa State University ...

''. Retrieved 27 December 2012. She received her master's degree in English from

in 1975, with a thesis on the concept of

androgyny Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to Sex, biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it oft ...

in the novels of

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...

and later taught creative writing at the university for many years. She has written several novels and two memoirs as well as contributing regular columns to the ''

Ames Tribune ''The Ames Tribune'' is a newspaper published Tuesday through Sunday based in Ames, Iowa. The newspaper is owned by Gannett. History In 1986, the ''Tribune'' was bought by Michael Gartner and Gary Gerlach, two former executives at ''The Des Mo ...

'' and ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

''. Her first book, ''Before and After Zachariah'', originally published by

Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

in 1982, is a reflection on her family's decision to institutionalize her severely handicapped son. The experience made her an advocate for parents who choose institutionalized care for children with severe disabilities. The book has had 5 editions published between 1982 and 1998 and has also been published in French as ''Avant et après Zacharie''. Her most recent memoir, ''Leaving Long Island and other departures'', published in 2012, includes her experiences of divorce, the discovery that she carries the BRCA gene, and raising a

blended family A stepfamily (sometimes called a bonus family) is a family where at least one parent has children who are not biologically related to their spouse. Either parent, or both, may have children from previous relationships or marriages. Two known cl ...

Personal life

Kupfer's first marriage to Joseph Kupfer, a philosophy scholar whom she married in

Williamsville, New York Williamsville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler. It is part of the Buffalo- ...

in the late 1960s, ended in divorce. They had two children, a daughter, Gabi and their late son, Zachariah. She is now married to Joseph Geha, a

Lebanese-American Lebanese Americans () are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon and Latin America. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the American populatio ...

academic and author of the novel, ''Lebanese Blonde''. The couple live in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

Bibliography

* Kupfer, Fern. ''Strong Women in Chicago.'' Madison, Wisconsin: Culicidae Press (2025). * Kupfer, Fern. ''Leaving Long Island and other departures.'' Ames, Iowa: Culicidae Press (2012). * Kupfer, Fern. "Another Traditional Arab Jewish Potluck" in ''The Secret Lives of Lawfully Wedded Wives: 27 Women Writers on Love, Infidelity, Sex Roles, Race, Kids, and More.'' Ed. Autumn Stephens. Novato, CA: New World Library (2006). * Kupfer, Fern. "Trust" in ''Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales.''Ed. Kate Bernheimer. New York, NY: Anchor (1998). * Kupfer, Fern. ""Sleepwalking Through Suburbia" in ''Nice Jewish Girls.'' Ed. Marlene Adler Marks. New York, NY: Plume (1996). * Kupfer, Fern. ''Love Lies.'' New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

(1994). * Kupfer, Fern. ''No Regrets''. New York:

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

(1989). * Kupfer, Fern. ''Surviving the Seasons.'' New York:

(1987). Solomon, Charles (20 August 1989)
"Review: ''Surviving the Seasons'' by Fern Kupfer"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Retrieved 27 December 2012. * Kupfer, Fern. ''Before and After Zachariah.'' New York: Delacorte Press (1982).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kupfer, Fern 1946 births Living people Iowa State University faculty American women writers People from Plainview, New York State University of New York at Cortland alumni American women academics 21st-century American women