Trish Vradenburg
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Trish Vradenburg (May 9, 1946 – April 17, 2017) was an American playwright, author, television writer, and advocate of research to cure
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
.


Biography

Vradenburg was born in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, the daughter of Beatrice and Judge Joseph Lerner. She graduated from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
in 1968 and became a speech writer for Senator Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ). She was a writer on three television shows. In addition, she wrote the novel ''Liberated Lady'' (1986) as well as the plays ''The Apple Doesn't Fall…'' and ''Surviving Grace''. Both of those plays are accounts of Vradenburg's time as an Alzheimer's caregiver for her mother, who died of the disease in 1991. Vradenburg is survived by her husband, former
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executive and venture philanthropist George Vradenburg. In 2008, the Vradenburgs founded US Against Alzheimer's, a national advocacy network dedicated to stopping Alzheimer's. In 2012, Capitol File magazine named Trish and George Vradenburg on their list of
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's top power couples for the philanthropy and advocacy efforts. She was also a member of the board of
Theater J Theater J is a professional theater company located in Washington, DC, founded to present works that "celebrate the distinctive urban voice and social vision that are part of the Jewish cultural legacy". Organization Hailed by ''The New York ...
and DC Vote.


Books

In 1986
Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...
published Vradenburg's novel, ''Liberated Lady'', which was described as a "comedic romance with a dash of politics." The book was chosen as
Literary Guild The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book sales club, book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a ...
and
Doubleday Book Club Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000. Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizon ...
selections. Further, Vradenburg was published in the anthology '' Chicken Soup for the Romantic Soul'' in 2000.


Television

In 1986, she became a writer for the show ''
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''. In addition, she also wrote for the shows '' Kate and Allie'' and ''
Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...
''. Her shows dealt with topics including abortion, homosexuality, race relations and high school reunions. She also wrote a pilot about life at a home shopping network, ''The Shopping Maul'', for
Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...
Productions. She was the on-air host of ''Book This Show with Trish'', a book show for Q2.


Plays

Vradenburg wrote the play ''The Apple Doesn't Fall...'' which was produced at the
Tiffany Theater The Tiffany Theater was the first theater on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It stood west of La Cienega between the Playboy Club and Dino's Lodge restaurant. Before being converted from the Mary Webb Davis Modeling School office ...
in Los Angeles and on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City, and ''Surviving Grace'' which was produced at the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
in Washington and
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the Union Square Theatre in New York. ''Surviving Grace'' was translated into Portuguese and produced in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. ''Surviving Grace'' is published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.


Print media

Trish and George Vradenburg served as co-publishers of '' Tikkun'' (2002-2012), a bi-monthly English-language magazine that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion and history from a leftist-progressive viewpoint, and provides commentary about Israeli politics and Jewish life in North America. She has also had opinion pieces published in several newspapers, including ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''.


Alzheimer's advocacy

She and her husband chaired the National Alzheimer's Gala in Washington, D.C. (2004-2010) which raised over $9 million for the
Alzheimer's Association The Alzheimer's Association is a nonprofit voluntary health organization that focuses on Alzheimer's disease care, support and research. History Jerome H. Stone founded the Alzheimer's Association with the help of several family support groups ...
. In 2010 they launched US Against Alzheimer's (USA2), an independent organization whose mission is to stop Alzheimer's disease by the year 2020.


Death

Vradenburg died of a heart attack on April 17, 2017. She was interred at
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California, United States. Many Jewish people from the entertainment industry are buried there. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (designed by Los Angeles ...
.Patricia Vradenburg
/ref>


References


External links


Trish Vradenburg
at the
Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Trish Vradenburg
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Vradenburg, Trish 1946 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American women philanthropists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American television writers American women dramatists and playwrights American women novelists American women television writers Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Novelists from New Jersey People from Newark, New Jersey Screenwriters from New Jersey Writers from Newark, New Jersey