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Piper Kerman

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Piper Kerman
Kerman at the University of Missouri in 2014
Born
Piper Eressea Kerman

(1969-09-28) September 28, 1969 (age 54)
Boston, Massachusetts[1]
Alma materSmith College
Occupation(s)Writer, author, memoirist
Notable workOrange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison
Spouse
​
(m. 2006)​

Piper Eressea Kerman[2] (born September 28, 1969) is an American memoirist convicted of felony money-laundering charges; her experiences in prison provided the basis for the comedy-drama Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.

Early life and education

Kerman was born in Boston[1] into a family with many attorneys, doctors, and educators,[1] and graduated from Smith College[3] in 1992. She is a self-described "WASP" (though her paternal grandfather was Russian Jewish).[3][4]

Criminal career

In 1993, Kerman entered into a romantic relationship with a woman who dealt heroin for a West African kingpin.[5][6] Kerman laundered money for the drug operation.[5]

In 1998, Kerman was indicted for money laundering and drug trafficking, and subsequently pleaded guilty.[5] Beginning in 2004, she served 13 months of a 15-month sentence at FCI Danbury, a minimum security prison located in Danbury, Connecticut.[7]

Later career

Kerman published her best-selling memoir about her experiences in prison, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, in 2010. An eponymous television adaptation by Jenji Kohan, the Emmy award-winning creator of Weeds, debuted in July 2013 on Netflix. Kerman's character in the series ("Piper Chapman") is played by Taylor Schilling. The program was renewed for a fourth season before season three premiered.[8]

Kerman serves on the board of the Women's Prison Association and is frequently invited to speak to students of creative writing, criminology, gender and women's studies, law, and sociology, as well as to groups, such as the American Correctional Association's Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force, federal probation officers, public defenders, justice reform advocates and volunteers, book clubs, and formerly and currently incarcerated people.[citation needed]

On February 10, 2014, Kerman received the 2014 Justice Trailblazer Award from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Center on Media, Crime & Justice.[9]

On February 25, 2014, Kerman testified at a hearing on "Reassessing Solitary Confinement" before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights chaired by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin.[10]

On August 4, 2015, Kerman testified at a hearing on "Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons: First-Hand Accounts of Challenges Facing the Federal Prison System" before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Ron Johnson.[11]

Since 2015, Kerman has worked as a communications strategist for nonprofits.[12]

Personal life

Kerman has stated, "I’m bisexual, so I’m a part of the gay community".[13] She says she came out of the closet at "either 18 or 19" and identified as a lesbian for most of her youth. Kerman says she had relationships with many women, and her husband Larry Smith, a writer,[2] and creator of the popular concept of Six-Word Memoirs,[14] is "the only guy I’ve ever dated."[15] Kerman and Smith married on May 21, 2006.[2]

In a May 2015 interview with the Columbus Dispatch[16], Kerman confirmed that she and Smith are living in Columbus, Ohio and that she is teaching writing classes at the Marion Correctional Institution and the Ohio Reformatory for Women in nearby Marysville, Ohio.[17]

Works

Interviews

  • Goldman, Lea. "Life Behind Bars". Marie Claire.
  • Romero, Frances (April 28, 2010). "Behind the Bars: One Woman's Year in Prison". TIME.
  • "'Orange Is The New Black' In Federal Women's Prison". Talk of the Nation.
  • "Piper Kerman, author of the memoir 'Orange is the New Black', on the Netflix series she inspired". Q. CBC Radio. August 14, 2013.
  • AMA, on Reddit
  • Levintova, Hannah (October 25, 2013). "How to Survive in a Women's Federal Prison". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  • "Piper Kerman On Her Story That Inspired The Netflix Series 'Orange Is The New Black'". The Diane Rehm Show. June 9, 2014.

References

  1. ^ a b c Lee Ball, Aimee (August 2, 2013). "Prison Life, Real and Onscreen". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c "Piper Kerman and Larry Smith". The New York Times. May 21, 2006.
  3. ^ a b "The Woman Behind 'Orange Is The New Black'". 90.9 WBUR. July 29, 2013.
  4. ^ https://twitter.com/Piper/status/322346590687858690
  5. ^ a b c Humphrey, Michael (March 25, 2010). "Ex-Convict Piper Kerman on Her Hot New Memoir, Orange Is the New Black". New York Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  6. ^ Segura, Liliana (April 1, 2010). "Orange Is the New Black: A Year in a Women's Prison". Truthout. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  7. ^ Grose, Jessica (April 8, 2010). "What's a Nice Blonde Like Me Doing in Prison?". Slate.
  8. ^ Seriófilo (June 6, 2014), Habrá 3 temporada de Orange is the new black, renovada: estreno en primavera 2015. Netflix nos extiende la condena a disfrutar de la serie
  9. ^ "2014 Justice Trailblazer Award Dinner - Honoring Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black". jjay.cuny.edu. February 10, 2014.
  10. ^ "Testimony of Piper Kerman, author, Orange is the New Black". YouTube. February 26, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  11. ^ "Testimony of Piper Kerman, author, Orange is the New Black". Senate. August 4, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "Piper Kerman". CityArts.net.
  13. ^ http://www.lstylegstyle.com/stories/the-real-piper-of-orange-is-the-new-black/
  14. ^ PopTech (2010). "Larry Smith's six-word project". PopTech. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  15. ^ Lynn Yeldell (May 9, 2014). "The REAL Piper of Orange is the New Black". L Style G Style. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  16. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/06/02/piper-kerman-speech.html
  17. ^ Nuss, Jeannie (May 31, 2015). "Author of 'Orange Is The New Black' explains move to Columbus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 31, 2015.

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