| Caroline Paul | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1963-07-29) July 29, 1963 (age 61) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Genres | |
| Spouse |
Wendy MacNaughton (m. 2018) |
| Relatives | Alexandra Paul (identical twin) |
Caroline Paul (born July 29, 1963, in New York City) is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction.
Early years and education
Caroline Paul was raised in New York City; Paris, France; and Cornwall, Connecticut. Her father was an investment banker, her mother a social worker. She was educated in journalism and documentary film at Stanford University.
Career
Paul volunteered as a journalist at Berkeley public radio station KPFA, then in 1988, joined the San Francisco Fire Department, as one of the first women hired by the department. She worked most of her career on the search and rescue team.
Her first book was the nonfiction memoir Fighting Fire, published in 1998. It was a finalist at the Northern California Book Awards and an alternate selection for the Book of the Month Club. Her second, the 2006 historical novel East Wind, Rain is based on the Niihau incident, a historical event in which a Japanese pilot crash-landed on the private Hawaiian island of Niihau, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. "When it's over, we don't want to leave," said the New York Times review of the book. Lost Cat, A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology was published in 2013 and illustrated by her partner, artist Wendy MacNaughton. It details Paul and MacNaughton's high-tech search for their cat. The PBS Newshour described the book as "A thoughtful, kind and funny story about the love people can have for their pets and the weird places that this love and accompanying devotion can take them. But it also travels beyond the realm of human-pet relationships, offering commentary on all relationships and the roles of those we love, and sometimes don't love, in our lives."
In 2016, Paul published the New York Times bestseller The Gutsy Girl, Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure. The book is described as “Lean in for middle grade girls, set not in the workplace but on bicycles, tree branches, sea kayaks, and cliff edges. … Part memoir, part how-to-outdoors guide, (it) offers life lessons through adventure stories.” She published a New York Times oped that spoke to parents about the themes raised in The Gutsy Girl called, “Why Do We Teach Girls It’s Cute to be Scared” that quickly became viral.
Paul did a TED talk on the subject of raising healthy, confident girls by encouraging bravery, which has over 2 million views.
In 2018 Paul collaborated with tea expert Sebastian Beckwith, and published A Little Tea Book.
During the pandemic, Paul collaborated with MacNaughton on DrawTogether, a half hour Instagram Live art class conceived and hosted by MacNaughton, with the goal of helping kids and parents through the school closures ). Paul filmed the show with a camera phone, and also edited filmed interviews and other content. Draw Together reached tens of thousands of kids around the world and ran for over a year, with 70 half hour shows in all.
During that time Paul also wrote her latest book, Tough Broad: From Boogie Boarding to Wing Walking, How Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age. Paul looks at the latest research and social science on aging, and embarks on adventures that range from scuba diving with an octagenarean, to hiking with a 93-year-old, to birdwatching. The book argues that a relationship with the outdoors profoundly changes bodies and minds, especially those of women in later years. Swimmer Diana Nyad Diana Nyad says of the Tough Broad, “this arc of a critical life blueprint comes from the toughest broad I know, Caroline Paul …Caroline leads those of us of mature and wise ages to the very real hope we have much more to explore.”
Paul is a longtime member of The Writers Grotto, whose notable members include Noah Hawley Noah Hawley(TV series Fargo; TV series Legion), Bonnie Tsui Bonnie Tsui(Why We Swim), Mary Roach ( New York Times bestsellers Stiff, the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers; Packing for Mars, the Curious Science of Life in the Void) and Kathryn Ma (The Chinese Groove).
Personal life
In 2018, Paul and MacNaughton were married. Paul and MacNaughton separated in 2023 after 15 years together.
Caroline Paul's identical twin is Baywatch actress Alexandra Paul. Due to Alexandra's fame on Baywatch, Caroline Paul was often mistaken for her twin sister even when in full firefighter gear. This prompted her to write the short book Almost Her, which examines the peculiarities of fame and the science of twins. The two sisters were featured in a People magazine feature on twins, "Seeing Double," in 1998.
Her brother Jonathan Paul was a leader in the underground animal rights group Animal Liberation Front, which freed beagles from medical labs, minks from fur farms, and burned down a horse slaughterhouse. For his actions, he went to prison for four years.
Paul is a pilot who flies gyrocopters in her spare time.
Her cousin, is Dominica national cricket team and Leeward Islands cricket team player, Jean Paul (cricketer).
Works
- Fighting Fire, ISBN 978-0-312-97000-0
- East Wind, Rain, ISBN 978-0-06-078076-0
- Lost Cat, ISBN 978-1-60-819977-8
- The Gutsy Girl, ISBN 978-1632861238
- A Little Tea Book, ISBN 9781632869029
- You Are Mighty, ISBN 978-1681198224
- Tough Broad, ISBN 978-1635576498
External links
References
- ^ "Stanford University alumnus biography". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
- "Caroline Paul: How Can We Instill Bravery In Girls?". NPR Ted Radio Hour. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- "East Wind Rain Review", New York Times
- "web site: Lost Cat". Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- "A Purrfect Tale of Love, Cats and Technology", The PBS Newshour
- "New York Times Best Sellers List", New York Times
- "An Illustrated Field Guide to the Art, Science, and Joy of Tea". October 16, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- "Alexandra Paul: biography" Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Alexandra Paul's website
- "When Your Twin is a Famous 'Baywatch' Star, and You're Not". April 15, 2016.
- "Seeing Double". People. 49 (18): 194. May 1, 1998. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
- 1963 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American novelists
- 21st-century American novelists
- American women novelists
- Writers from California
- Identical twins
- American twins
- American lesbian writers
- American LGBTQ novelists
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- American women non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- LGBTQ people from Connecticut
- LGBTQ people from California
- Novelists from Connecticut
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people