Rita Golden Gelman (born July 2, 1937) is an American writer who has written more than 70 children's books and 2 adult books. Her organization, Let's Get Global, is dedicated to encouraging and assisting recent high school graduates to have a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

including international experiences. Gelman has delivered keynote speeches for several colleges and organizations.

Early life and education

Gelman's family owned a small pharmacy in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. As a teenager, she worked the soda fountain in the store. Her favorite part of the job was interacting with immigrant customers. Gelman attended Beardsley Elementary School, then

Warren Harding High School Warren Harding High School is a public high school in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. It is commonly called Harding High School. Its cornerstone was laid on May 10, 1924, and the school opened on September 9, 1925. The school is named fo ...

for her freshman year and Bassick High School for her last three years, graduating in 1954. She received a B.A. in English and American Literature from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

in 1958. In 1984, she received an M.A. in anthropology from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. After graduating from college, she moved to

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 ...

and lived in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

until 1976, and then in Los Angeles until she began her nomadic life.

Writing career

Children's books

Gelman's children's books include: * ''Dumb Joey'' (1972), her first book, about a group of kids in New York City who had nowhere to play * ''Body Noises'' (1983) about noises made by the body including yawns, sneezes, cracking joints and flatulence * ''Rice is Life'' (2000) about how rice is grown and harvested on the island of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

* ''More Spaghetti, I Say!'' (1993) about Minnie, a monkey who can't stop eating spaghetti * ''Body Battles'' (1992) about how our bodies fight off viruses and other threats to our health, such as drugs and poisons

Adult books

Her memoir, ''Tales of a Female Nomad, Living at Large in the World,'' was published in 2001 by

Crown Publishing Group The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...

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 the book, she writes about the first 15 years of living in developing countries after selling all of her possessions. In October 2014, it reached 4th in the "Love and Relationships" category of

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

. In June 2010, she wrote ''Female Nomad and Friends, Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World'' in which 41 authors, all but two of them women, tell their stories of "connecting across cultures." Gelman has eight stories in the book. There are also 33 international recipes. All the author royalties from this anthology are used to send high school graduates from slums in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

to vocational schools via scholarships organized by

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

Personal life

In 1960, she married Stephen Gelman. Her son, Mitch, was born in 1962 and her daughter, Jan, was born in 1963. She divorced around 1986. In 1987, Gelman sold all her possessions and become a citizen of the world. She has never returned to a settled life; on her website she refers to herself as a "modern day nomad", although she temporarily lives in

References

External links

*
The Global Nomad Interviews: Rita Golden Gelman, 29 July 2017, Istanbul, Turkey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelman, Rita Golden 1937 births Living people American children's writers American women memoirists