Patty Dann (born October 30, 1953) is an American novelist and nonfiction writer. She studied at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, and later earned an MFA in writing from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. While working at the A&E network in 1986, she revised ''

Mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

'', a

coming-of-age novel In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

she had written as her master's thesis, which was subsequently published by

Ticknor and Fields Ticknor and Fields was an American publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as a bookstore in 1832, the business published many 19th-century American authors, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Henr ...

. It was later made into a feature film of the same name in 1990. Dann is also the author of the novels ''The Wright Sister'' (2020), ''Sweet & Crazy'' (2003), and ''Starfish'' (2013), the latter of which is a sequel to ''Mermaids''. She has also written nonfiction works, including ''The Butterfly Hours: Transforming Memories into Memoir'', ''The Baby Boat: A Memoir of Adoption'' (1998), focusing on the adoption of her son, and ''The Goldfish Went on Vacation: A Memoir of Loss'' (2007), which reflected on the death of her husband.

Early life and education

Dann was born on October 30, 1953, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Joanne ( Himmell) and

Michael Dann Michael Harold Dann (September 11, 1921 – May 27, 2016) was an American television executive. Dann was vice president of programming at CBS from 1963 to 1970, having worked there since leaving NBC in the late 1950s. He took a pragmatic app ...

, a comedy writer-turned-television executive at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. She has one brother, Jonathan, and a sister, Priscilla. Dann was raised in

Chappaqua, New York Chappaqua ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Metr ...

. After graduating high school, Dann enrolled at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

, but left after her freshman year, transferring to the

, where she earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in art history. While attending the University of Oregon, she studied under writer

Ralph Salisbury Ralph James Salisbury (January 24, 1926 - October 9, 2017) was an American poet. His poem "In the Children's Museum in Nashville" was published in ''The New Yorker'' in 1960. His autobiography ''So Far, So Good'' won the 2012 River Teeth Litera ...

, whom she later cited as a major influence on her writing. She subsequently earned an MFA in writing at

, where she submitted an early draft of ''

'', a coming-of-age novel about a teenage girl in the 1960s, as her master's

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

. Dann has published four novels: ''The Wright Sister'' (a historical novel about the Wright Brothers' sister

Katharine Wright Katharine Wright Haskell ( Wright; August 19, 1874 – March 3, 1929) was an American teacher, suffragist, and the younger sister of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright. She worked closely with her brothers, managing their bicycle shop ...

), ''Mermaids'', ''Starfish'', and ''Sweet & Crazy''. Her work has been translated into French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. ''Mermaids'' was made into a movie, starring Cher, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. ''The Butterfly Hours'' was chosen as one of the "Best Books for Writers" by ''Poets & Writers Magazine''. ''The Goldfish Went on Vacation: A Memoir of Loss'' received a Foreword Indie Gold Award for Family & Relationships. Dann's articles have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''Boston Globe'', ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', ''Christian Science Monitor'', ''O Magazine'', ''Oregon Quarterly'', ''Redbook'', ''More'', ''Forbes Woman'', ''Poets & Writers Magazine'', ''The Writers' Handbook Dirt: The Quirks, Habits and Passions of Keeping House'', and ''This I Believe: On Motherhood''. She has taught at the Fairfield County Writers' Studio and the West Side YMCA in NYC. Dann is married to journalist Michael Hill, and has one son and two stepsons.

Bibliography

Fiction

*''

'' (1986), Ticknor and Fields *''Sweet & Crazy'' (2008), St. Martin's Press *''Starfish'' (2013), Greenpoint Press *''The Wright Sister: A Novel'' (2020), Harper Perennial

Nonfiction

*''The Baby Boat: A Memoir of Adoption'' (1998), Hyperion *''The Goldfish Went on Vacation: A Memoir of Loss'' (2007), Trumpeter *''The Butterfly Hours: Transforming Memories into Memoir'' (2016), Shambhala

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dann, Patty Living people 1953 births American women novelists Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Novelists from New York (state) People from Chappaqua, New York Sarah Lawrence College faculty University of Oregon alumni American women memoirists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American women academics Memoirists from New York (state)