 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Laura Chapman Hruska" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2010) |
| Laura Chapman Hruska | |
|---|---|
| Born | Laura Mae Chapman October 14, 1935 The Bronx |
| Died | January 9, 2010 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Cornell University, Yale Law School |
| Spouse | Alan Hruska |
Laura Chapman Hruska (October 14, 1935 – January 9, 2010) was an American lawyer, novelist, and co-founder and editor in chief of the Soho Press.
Life
Laura Mae Chapman was born in The Bronx, and was raised in Manhattan. After graduating from Cornell University, she attended Yale Law School. After a short career as an attorney, she quit to start a family and focus on writing. She published three novels (as Laura Chapman). In 1986, she, her husband, Alan Hruska, and their friend, Juris Jurjevics, the former editor in chief of the Dial Press, founded Soho Press with the objective of publishing serious literature by authors who had yet to be discovered. The publishing house is unusual in accepting—and actually reading—unsolicited works.
One of Soho Press's notable discoveries was Breath, Eyes, Memory by the then-unknown Haitian-born author Edwidge Danticat. In 1994, the company started the Soho Crime imprint dedicated to mysteries with foreign settings. In 2008, it forged a partnership with Constable & Robinson to publish British crime fiction in the United States.
Hruska died on January 9, 2010, of cancer, aged 74, in Manhattan. She was survived by her husband, three children, six grandchildren and her sister.
References
- Weber, Bruce (January 20, 2010). "Laura Chapman Hruska, Co-founder of Soho Press, Dies at 74". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
- 1935 births
- 2010 deaths
- 20th-century American novelists
- American publishers (people)
- Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
- Cornell University alumni
- Writers from the Bronx
- Novelists from New York City
- Writers from Manhattan
- Yale Law School alumni
- 20th-century American women lawyers
- American women novelists
- 20th-century American women writers
- 20th-century American lawyers
- 21st-century American women