Patricia Morrisroe (born January 14, 1951) is an American journalist and author, best known for writing the biography of

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...

. Her writing has appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', '' Vogue'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'', and others.

Early life and education

Patricia Morrisroe was born in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

. Her father, Lawrence P. Morrisroe, was a banker, and her mother was Eileen Flynn. She graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

, earning a B.A. in English. She received an M.A. in Cinema Studies from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

After graduating, Morrisroe worked for a year as a reporter and film critic at the Eagle-Tribune, a daily newspaper covering Massachusetts and New Hampshire. During the 1980s, she was a contributing editor at

, writing over 50 features including several dozen cover stories. Among the most notable were "The Death and Life of Perry Ellis," about the fashion designer's secret battle with AIDS, and "Bess and the Mess," about the political misfortunes of former

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

Bess Myerson Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model, and television actress who in 1945 became the first Jewish Miss America. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an affirmation of th ...

. Morrisroe has also written profiles for London's '' Sunday Times Magazine'', including an interview with writer

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...

which was included in the book Conversations With Raymond Carver. Her journalism and essays have been published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fair'', the ''New York Times'', ''Elle Décor'', ''Departures'', and ''

Travel & Leisure ''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York (state), New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC ( ...

.'' Her essay "Swept Away" was included in ''Nostalgia in Vogue'', a 2011 compilation of coming-of-age essays from the Vogue Nostalgia column, alongside other contributions by

Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer and journalist. She is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism, along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. Didio ...

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld also called Kaiser Karl (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director. Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working for several top fashion hous ...

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

, and others. In 1988, photographer

selected Morrisroe to write his biography. She interviewed 300 people for the book and spent six months with Mapplethorpe before he died of

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. ''Mapplethorpe: A Biography'' was published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in 1995. Foreign editions were published in the UK, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan, and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Art critic Arthur C. Danto, writing in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', praised it as "utterly admirable ... The clarity and honesty of Morrisroe's portrait are worthy of its subject." Morrisroe's other non-fiction books include ''Wide Awake: A Memoir of Insomnia'' (2010) and ''9 1/2 Narrow: My Life in Shoes'' (2015). Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''The Woman in the Moonlight'', was published in 2020. The book centers on the imagined relationship between

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

and Countess Julie Guicciardi, to whom Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (Piano Sonata No. 14) was dedicated. As part of the 250th Anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020, Morrisroe wrote articles for the ''New York Times'' exploring lesser-known figures in the composer's life.

Personal life

Morrisroe is married to Lee D. Stern. She lives in New York City and Westchester.

Bibliography

Books

* * *''9 1/2 Narrow: My Life in Shoes''.

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

. *

Essays and Articles

"Forever Single."
''New York Magazine''. August 20, 1984.
"The Punk Glamour God."
''New York Magazine.'' March 26, 2004.
"Grandmother's Travel Memories."
''Travel + Leisure''. April 1, 2009. *

Modern Love. ''The New York Times''. September 28, 2012.

Modern Love. ''The New York Times''. July 23, 2015.
“Château Dior.”
''Departures''. September 12, 2016.

''The New York Times''. September 4, 2020.

''The New York Times.'' November 6, 2020.

''The New York Times.'' December 8, 2020

''The New York Times''. December 20, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrisroe, Patricia 1951 births Living people American women journalists American biographers Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni New York University alumni 21st-century American women