Piper Kerman
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...
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 is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
comedy-drama series ''
Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama 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 a Women's Pr ...
'' (2013). 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 is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
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 ...
, in 1987, and
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
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 ...
; 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 po ...
.


Criminal career

In 1993, Kerman became romantically involved with Catherine Cleary Wolters, a heroin dealer affiliated with an alleged Nigerian drug kingpin. In Kerman's memoir, Wolters is referred to as Nora Janson, and she inspired the character
Alex Vause Alex 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 Women's ...
, portrayed by
Laura Prepon Laura Prepon ( ; born March 7, 1980) is an American actress and television director. 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 Net ...
in the television series ''Orange Is the New Black''. Kerman became involved in the drug operation by laundering money. In 1998, Kerman was indicted on charges of money laundering and
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
. She subsequently pled guilty to these charges. She was sentenced to 15 months in prison and served 13 months at FCI Danbury, Connecticut, starting in 2004. During her incarceration, Kerman created a website calle
The Pipe Bomb
where she chronicled her experiences in prison.


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 is an independent publisher based in New York. Led by Celina (Cindy) Spiegel and Julie Grau, Spiegel & Grau publishes upmarket and literary fiction, reported nonfiction, memoir, and prescriptive nonfiction. History Spiegel & Gr ...
on April 6, 2010. A television adaptation of the same name created by
Jenji Kohan Jenji Leslie Kohan (born July 5, 1969) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the creator and showrunner of the Showtime comedy-drama series ''Weeds'' and the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black''. S ...
, the
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 ...
award-winning creator of ''
Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...
'', premiered on July 11, 2013, on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and aired for seven seasons. Kerman's character in the series ("
Piper Chapman Piper Elizabeth Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) is the protagonist of the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black''. The character is based on Piper Kerman, author of the non-fiction book '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's P ...
") is played by
Taylor Schilling Taylor Schilling (born July 27, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she received a nomination for the Pr ...
. ''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 television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
. Kerman serves on the board of the
Women's Prison Association The Women's Prison Association (WPA), founded 1845, is the oldest advocacy group for women in the United States. Lawney Reyes, ''B Street: The Notorious Playground of Coulee Dam'', University of Washington Press, 2008, . The organization has histor ...
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 col ...
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 Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the 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 businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...
. 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 romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
, so I'm a part of the
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
community (
LGBT+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
)". She
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
around the age of 18, and identified herself as a
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
during most of her youth. On May 21, 2006, Kerman married writer Larry Smith, a few months after he started publishing '' Smith Magazine''. Kerman and Smith live in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, 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 Union County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 25,571 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately northwest of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, it is part of the Columbus met ...
. She was awarded the 'Humanist Heroine of the Year Award' from the 'Humanist Hub' group at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.Scene and Heard: Piper Kerman , Magazine , The Harvard Crimson. (n.d.). https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/4/9/scene-and-heard-piper/


Works

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


See also

* Teresa Giudice, 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 business woman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety ...
, 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 women memoirists Writers from Boston Bisexual women writers American LGBTQ rights activists Bisexual memoirists Living people American prison reformers LGBTQ people from Massachusetts American people of Russian-Jewish descent Orange Is the New Black 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American memoirists 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American criminals American female criminals