Laura Van Wormer

-Grew up in Darien, CT a commuter town outside NYC
-Graduated high school 1974 (THE CLASS OF '74)
-Graduated Syracuse U 1978.
-Started at Doubleday as secretary and worked way up to editor.
-1984 Stopped drinking (was going to be youngest has-been in publishing otherwise).
-1985 Left to pursue my own writing, supporting myself by creating coffee-table books with the creators of DYNASTY, DALLAS & KNOTS LANDING
1988 My first novel RIVERSIDE DRIVE published, followed by 13 more.

2015 on my way to the airport to fly out to see Betty White, a DRUNK driver went through a highway tunnel the wrong way and hit me head on. I recovered eventually but had a lot of trouble writing again.

2024 at my 50th high school reunion no one could hear me (the accident had damaged my vocal chords) Came home frustrated, saying I wish I could have stood up at the reunion and make everyone listen to a story a had written (which I always did in high school, interrupting parties). My other half said, "Why don’t you write them a story and read it to them as a podcast so they can hear you?"

I loved the idea and opened the story of THE CLASS OF '74 on what had been our first day of high school, September 8, 1971. It is essentially a narrative soap opera about teenage life before cellphones and while it is fiction – in weekly episodes of 30+ minutes with cliff-hanger endings – my classmates recognize “Brighton” as Fairfield Country in CT and get a real kick out of it.
But Rich, imagine how surprised I was to find out people I DIDN’T know had started listening to THE CLASS OF ’74, too! From all over the world! intrigued by the time and American suburban culture.

It took me 25 episodes to understand the gift of being able to write fiction had been returned to me, only in a different medium. (It feels like a cross between writing old time radio and doing a bookstore reading.) Well, whatever this show of mine IS, I love writing THE CLASS OF ’74, can plainly see my listeners are the nicest people in America, and I think we should just go on forever. We’ll start with Season 2 on February 14th.