Letty Cottin Pogrebin (born June 9, 1939) is an American author, journalist, lecturer, and social activist. She is a founding editor of ''Ms.'' magazine, the author of twelve books, and was an editorial consultant for the TV special '' Free to Be... You and Me'' (as well as for the album and book associated with it) for which she earned an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Early life and education

Loretta (Letty) Cottin was born to a

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

family in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, the daughter of Cyral (née Halpern) and Jacob Cottin. Her father was a lawyer who was active in the Jewish community and her mother was a designer. She attended the

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

of Central Queens and the Jamaica Jewish Center Hebrew High School. After graduating from

Jamaica High School Jamaica High School was a four-year public high school in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was operated by the New York City Department of Education. Jamaica High School was founded as the Union Free School in 1854, and located within a three-stor ...

in Jamaica, Queens, she earned a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in English and American literature in 1959.

Career

She was a founding editor of ''Ms. Magazine'' and a cofounder of Ms. Foundation for Women and the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) is an organization which was founded in 1971 by leaders of the women's liberation movement to promote women's participation in government. The group describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots or ...

. From 1960 to 1970, she worked for the publishing company Bernard Geis Associates as director of publicity and later vice president. From 1970 to 1980, she wrote a column for ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

'' called "The Working Woman." In 1976, Pogrebin was among 13 women who attended a feminist

Passover Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...

, the first organized and led by Esther M. Broner in her New York City apartment. in 1977, Pogrebin became an associate of the

Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) is an American nonprofit publishing organization that was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1972. The organization works to increase media democracy and strengthen independent media. Basic informati ...

(WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. In 1979, the

Supersisters ''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The ...

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...

set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Pogrebin's name and picture. She authored ''How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick'', a guide, after she was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

in 2009. She was featured (among others) in the 2013 documentary film '' Makers: Women Who Make America''. Pogrebin is a life member of Hadassah, and in 2013 was awarded that year's Myrtle Wreath Award from Hadassah's Southern New Jersey Region. She is a board member of (among other organizations) the Director's Council of the Women in Religion Program at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

, the Ms. Foundation for Education and Communication, and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Brandeis University.

Personal life

Letty Cottin met and married Bert Pogrebin in 1963, first meeting at Fire Island in June, and marrying before the end of the year. Six years her senior, he was a management-side labor lawyer, and a partner at

Littler Mendelson Littler Mendelson P.C. is a U.S.-based law firm that specializes in labor and employment law. They have been widely described as a "union busting" firm. The firm has offices in 28 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, ...

. Together, they had identical twin daughters,

Robin Pogrebin Robin Pogrebin (''POG-re-bin''; born May 17, 1965) has been a reporter for ''The New York Times'' since 1995, where she covers cultural institutions, the art world, architecture, and other subjects. Biography Pogrebin is the daughter of the wri ...

and Abigail Pogrebin (1965), and a son, David (1968). Bert died in 2024. She is the grandmother of six.

Books

* ''How to Make It in a Man's World'' (1970) * ''Free to Be You and Me'' (1972) (consulting editor) * ''Getting Yours: How to Make the System Work for the Working Woman'' (1976) * ''Growing Up Free: Raising Your Child in the 80s'' (1980) * ''Stories for Free Children'' (1982) (editor) * ''Family Politics: Love and Power on an Intimate Frontier'' (1983) * ''Free to Be...A Family'' (1987) (consulting editor) * ''Among Friends: Who We Like, Why We Like Them and What We Do with Them'' (1988) * ''Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America'' (1991) * ''Getting Over Getting Older: An Intimate Journey'' (1996) * ''Three Daughters'' (2003) * ''How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick'' (2013) * ''Single Jewish Male Seeking Soulmate'' (2015) * ''Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy'' (2022)

References

External links

Letty Cottin Pogrebin papers
at the

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, a ...