Alison Lurie
Alison Lurie (1926-2020) was an American writer whose work gained critical acclaim and a loyal readership around the world. She was the author of several celebrated novels, including the best-selling title Foreign Affairs (1984), which won her the Pulitzer Prize and a nomination for the National Book Award. She was awarded the Prix Femina Étranger in France in 1989 for La Vérité sur Lorin Jones (The Truth About Lorin Jones). Three of Alison’s novels have been adapted for film or TV: The War Between the Tates (1977), Imaginary Friends (1987), and Foreign Affairs (1993).
Alison Lurie authored several works of non-fiction, including a well-regarded book on the semiotics of fashion (The Language of Clothes, 1981, with Doris Palca) and a follow-up volume on what architecture says about us (The Language of Houses, 2014). She also had a keen interest in children’s literature, editing several collections in which girls are the hero, including Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Fairy Tales (1980), and The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales (1993).
Alison Lurie was a much-loved teacher as well as a successful writer. She started teaching at Cornell University in 1969, where she led courses in creative writing and children’s literature as well as other topics over 36 years. In 1989 she was named the F.J. Whiton Professor of American Literature at Cornell. Alison was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, receiving the latter’s Award in Literature in 1978. She won fellowships and grants from the Yaddo Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation, and honorary degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of Nottingham. From 2012-2014, Alison served as the official New York State Writer.
Alison’s death in December 2020 was noted by news outlets around the world, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Times of London, the Telegraph, and the Economic Times of India, among others.
[photo credit: Phyllis Rose]