TIME OUT WITH…

Laurie Gelman, Author

By Elizabeth Darwen

Author and broadcaster Laurie Gelman recently released her new Novel, Yoga Pant Nation (Henry Holt & Company), the third book in Gelman’s Class Mom series. The book follows Jen Dixon, the lead character in the series, entering her final year as a class mom. It starts as a breeze until the PTA president asks her to champion the school’s annual fundraiser, a notoriously challenging job that, as we know, is right up Jen’s alley.

As ever, when life gets crazy, humor is Jen’s best stress relief. Her acerbic emails to the class parents and friendly spars with her daughter over how organic is organic enough for baby food will have readers laugh aloud and text Jen’s best lines to their friends.

The author and former broadcaster currently lives in New York City with her husband Michael Gelman, executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and their two teenage daughters. New York Lifestyles sat down with Laurie to discuss her time as a broadcaster, her transition to writing novels, her new book, and her family life

Tell us about your early years.
I was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, which is the capital of Canada. I graduated from Ryerson University in Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

How did you get into broadcasting?
I got a summer internship as a newsroom assistant at a radio station in Toronto, Canada. That led to a job as an on-air talent at a start-up cable network, YTV. The rest was a slow but steady crawl to the middle. Then I relocated to the U.S., where I worked various positions, including Breakfast Time on FX, Fox After Breakfast, Good Morning America, and The Early Show on CBS as their pop culture correspondent.

What made you decide to become an author?
I spent twenty-five years as a broadcaster in both Canada and then the United States. When I turned fifty and realized that broadcasting was no longer an option, I knew I needed to do something to sate my creativity. At the same time, I was enduring a journey through the PTA at my daughters’ school. After a few failed attempts at writing a children’s book, I decided to write a story loosely based on my adventures in volunteering at school.

How did your broadcasting background help your transition into an author?
Well, I did a lot of writing as a broadcaster, so I exercised that muscle daily. The difference when writing a novel is you don’t have to follow any set of facts. It’s like having the keys to the candy jar. You can make the world in your book anything you want. So that took some getting used to.

Are any of the stories in the Class Mom series based on your own experiences or someone that you know?
Except for Jen getting fired from being a class mom, all the stories in all three books are either from my crazy imagination or based on stories other moms have told me about the things that have happened to them.

Tell us about your family life and what you do on your off time living in New York City?
Over the last few years, I spent a lot of time promoting my books, Yoga Pant Nation being the third since 2017 following Class Mom and You’ve Been Volunteered and have has appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Watch What Happens Live, and The Talk, among others. There isn’t a lot of off time, but as a family, we love to go out for dinner together, usually exploring someplace new in another neighborhood. We have tried just about every kind of food that New York has to offer.

For more information on Laurie Gelman, visit lauriegelman.com