Laura Friedman Williams is a native New Yorker whose writing credits consist of countless PTA newsletters and program notes for talent shows and school auctions, as well as ghostwritten bar mitzvah speeches for many of her friends. Her wit and wisdom have not yet made it to a larger audience, but her years spent raising children and running events at her children's schools have kept her writing steady and sharp. She credits her degree in English from Washington University and the ten formative years she spent in book publishing - first in Subsidiary Rights at Warner Books (now Grand Central Publishing) and then at Henry Holt & Company, then as a book scout and finally as a literary agent - for giving her a deep love and respect for the written word. She credits the break-up of her marriage for finally giving her the subject matter about which she both needed and wanted to write. She lives in downtown Manhattan with her three children.