Rhoda Lerman (January 18, 1936 – August 30, 2015) was an American author and playwright who debuted with her novel ''Call Me Ishtar'' in 1973. She adapted her 1979 novel ''Eleanor, A Novel'' into a one-woman stage play; it was also made into the Primetime Emmy Award-winning TV movie ''Eleanor: First Lady of the World''.

Early life and education

Rhoda Carol Sniderman was born, along with her twin sister, on January 18, 1936. She grew up in her birthplace of

Far Rockaway, Queens Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line. ...

, New York City, and New Britain, Connecticut. Rhoda's mother, Gertrude (née Langfur), moved her to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

after her father, an accountant named Jacob Sniderman, died when Rhoda was 13. Sniderman attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

, initially focusing on geology. While there, she met Robert Lerman, and the two married in 1957. When she was told by her advisor she could not go on field trips with him or with male students, she switched her field, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in English.

Career

Lerman debuted in 1973 with the novel ''Call Me Ishtar'', which was nominated for the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

. She adapted her novel ''Eleanor, A Novel'' into a one-woman stage play, ''Eleanor: Her Secret Journey'', that toured with

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and devoted wife of Ar ...

. The novel was also adapted into the TV movie ''Eleanor: First Lady of the World'', which was nominated for several

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, winning one. In 1996, she published her first nonfiction book ''In the Company of Newfies: A Shared Life'' about her life with her

Newfoundland dog The Newfoundland is a large working dog. They can be black, brown, or black and white. However, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, before it became part of the confederation of Canada, only black and Landseer (white-and-black) coloured dogs were ...

s. In a review for ''Animal Acts'', ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' says Lerman is "justly known as a writer's writer" and "produces fascinating plots and lush, seductive prose in the service of transcendent questions."

Death

Lerman died on August 30, 2015, in her home in

Fenton, New York Fenton is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 6,441 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Reuben Fenton, a governor of New York. The town is in the northeastern part of the county and is northeast of Bingh ...

, from complications of

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...

List of works

Novels * ''Call Me Ishtar'' (1973) * ''The Girl That He Marries'' (1976) * ''Eleanor, A Novel'' (1979) * ''The Book of the Night'' (1984) * ''God's Ear'' (1989) * ''Animal Acts'' (1994) * ''Solimeos'' (2023) Books * ''In the Company of Newfies: A Shared Life'' (1996) * ''Elsa Was Born a Dog, I Was Born A Human ...Things Have Changed'' (2013)

References

Works cited

External links

Obituary
at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lerman, Rhoda 1936 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Deaths from thyroid cancer People from Far Rockaway, Queens University of Miami alumni