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Piper Eressea Kerman (born September 28, 1969) is an American author. She was indicted in 1998 on charges of felonious
money-laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
activities, and sentenced to 15 months' detention in a federal correctional facility, of which she eventually served 13 months. Her memoir of her prison experiences, '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' (2010), was adapted into the critically-acclaimed
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
original comedy-drama series ''
Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in ...
'' (2016). Since leaving prison, Kerman has spoken widely about women in prison and problems with the federal prison system. She now works as a communication strategist for non-profit organizations.


Early life and education

Kerman was born in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
into a family with a number of attorneys, doctors and educators. She graduated from Swampscott High School in
Swampscott, Massachusetts Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States Census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts B ...
, in 1987, and
Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...
in 1992. Kerman is a self-described
WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
; however, she had a paternal grandfather who was
Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
.


Criminal career

In 1993, Kerman became romantically involved with Catherine Cleary Wolters (Nora Janson in her memoir:
Laura Prepon Laura Helene Prepon (born March 7, 1980) is an American actress. She rose to fame with her role as Donna Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006). She is also known for portraying Alex Vause in the Netflix comedy-drama seri ...
's character
Alex Vause Alex Pearl Vause is a fictional character played by Laura Prepon on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black''. The character is loosely based on the real ex-girlfriend of Piper Kerman, author of '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wome ...
in the series), a heroin dealer working for an alleged
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
kingpin Kingpin or king pin may refer to: Vehicular part * Kingpin (automotive part), the pivot in the steering mechanism ** The central bolt of a skateboard, axle assembly ("truck"), around which the rest of the mechanism can flex, allowing the rider ...
. Kerman laundered money for the drug operation. In 1998, Kerman was indicted for money laundering and
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
and she pled guilty. Starting in 2004, she served 13 months of a 15-month sentence at FCI Danbury, a
minimum security prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...
located in Danbury, Connecticut. During her sentence, she built her website "The Pipe Bomb" to document her life behind bars.


Later career

Kerman's best-selling memoir about her experiences in prison, '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'', was published by
Spiegel & Grau Spiegel & Grau was originally a publishing imprint of Penguin Random House founded by Celina Spiegel and Julie Grau in 2005. On January 25, 2019, Penguin Random House announced that the imprint was being shut down and the two founders were l ...
on April 6, 2010. A television adaptation of the same name created by Jenji Kohan, the Emmy award-winning creator of '' Weeds'', premiered on July 11, 2013, on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
and aired for seven seasons. Kerman's character in the series (" Piper Chapman") is played by Taylor Schilling. ''Orange is the New Black'' has received critical acclaim and won four
Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
. Kerman serves on the board of the Women's Prison Association and is frequently invited to speak to students of creative writing, criminology, gender and women's studies law, and sociology, and to groups, like the
American Correctional Association The American Correctional Association (ACA; called the National Prison Association before 1954) is a private, non-profit, non-governmental trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry, the oldest and largest such associati ...
's Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force, federal probation officers, public defenders, justice reform advocates and volunteers, book club and formerly and currently incarcerated people. On February 10, 2014, Kerman received the 2014 Justice Trailblazer Award from the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts co ...
Center on Media, Crime & Justice. On February 25, 2014, Kerman testified at a hearing on "Reassessing Solitary Confinement" before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights chaired by Assistant Majority Leader
Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate Dem ...
. On August 4, 2015, Kerman testified at a hearing on "Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons: First-Hand Accounts of Challenges Facing the Federal Prison System" before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Senator
Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. S ...
. Since 2015, Kerman has worked as a communications strategist for nonprofits. Since her prison sentence, Kerman has spoken publicly many times on behalf of women in corrections and about her experience. In 2019, she appeared as a guest in the last episode of ''Orange Is the New Black'' in the last scene in the Ohio prison, when Piper visited Alex. Kerman sat two seats to the left of Alex as a convict visited by her husband (in real life). She makes a cameo appearance in the show’s opening credits as the convict who blinks.


Personal life

Kerman has said, "I'm
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...
, so I'm a part of the gay community (
LGBT+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...
)". She
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
around the age of 18, and identified herself as a lesbian during most of her youth. On May 21, 2006, Kerman married writer Larry Smith. Kerman and Smith live in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
, and she teaches writing classes at the Marion Correctional Institution and the Ohio Reformatory for Women in nearby
Marysville, Ohio Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States, approximately 27 miles (44 km) northwest of Columbus. The population was 22,094 at the 2010 census, a 38.59% increase from 2000. Marysville's longtime slog ...
.


Works

* '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' * ''Finding My Way Back''


See also

*
Teresa Giudice Teresa Giudice ( , ; ; born May 18, 1972) is an American television personality best known for starring in ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. Besides appearing on the show, Giudice wrote multiple ''New York Times'' bestseller cookbooks and ...
, reality star and media personality whose prison memoir, ''Turning the Tables'' (2015), describes her 15-month incarceration from 2015 to 2016, for fraud, at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, CT *
Martha Stewart Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pub ...
, celebrity who was incarcerated from 2004 to 2005, for offenses related to insider trading, at Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, WV


References


External links

*
thepipebomb.com
- The website about her incarceration (mentioned in location 945/4958 of the OITNB ebook) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerman, Piper 1969 births People from West Long Branch, New Jersey Smith College alumni American people convicted of drug offenses People convicted of money laundering American memoirists Writers from Boston Bisexual writers Bisexual women American LGBT rights activists LGBT memoirists Living people Prison reformers LGBT people from Massachusetts American people of Russian-Jewish descent Orange Is the New Black