Lanpher, Katherine 1959-

PERSONAL: Born May 27, 1959; divorced. Education: Northwestern University, B.A.; University of Chicago, M.A.

ADDRESSES: Home— New York, NY. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: Radio personality and columnist. St. Paul Pioneer-Press, St. Paul, MN, reporter, 1972-82, columnist, 1982-88; “Midmorning,” Minnesota Public Radio, radio host, 1988-2004; “Weeknights with Katherine Lanpher,” KSTP-AM 1500, Maplewood, MN, radio host, 1995-96; “Al Franken Show,” Air America Radio, New York, NY, cohost, 2004-05. Guest host on National Public Radio and commentator for CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC.

WRITINGS

Leap Days: Chronicles of a Midlife Move (memoir), Springboard Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to the New York Times and More magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Katherine Lanpher spent many years in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Her sixteen-year tenure with the St. Paul Pioneer-Press followed by nearly sixteen years hosting Minnesota Public Radio’s “Mid-morning” show made her a regional celebrity. Lanpher’s career turned to the national stage when she was asked to cohost the “Al Franken Show” on Air America Radio in New York. The move from three decades in Minnesota to New York was a significant moment in her life. Lanpher only remained with Air America for two years, leaving the show to fully devote her time to writing her first book, Leap Days: Chronicles of a Midlife Move.

The book, primarily a memoir, talks about the personal difficulty she faced involving changing careers in a new city during her midlife years. A critic writing in Kirkus Reviews called the book “tempting fare for anyone who’s ever wondered: ‘Who am I and how did I get here?’”People contributor Bethanne Patrick gave the book a four-star rating and labeled it “high flying.” Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Eve Conant noted that “some of Lanpher’s writing is hokey” but conceded that “it’s hard not to warm to her transparency.” A reviewer in Publishers Weekly concluded that the writing is filled with “poignant candor and unconcealed wonder.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

BOOKS

Lanpher, Katherine, Leap Days: Chronicles of a Midlife Move, Springboard Press (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2006, review of Leap Days, p. 619.

New York Times, February 19, 2006, Stephen P. Williams, “Celebrity from the Midwest Finds a New Life in New York.”

New York Times Book Review, December 10, 2006, Eve Conant, review of Leap Days, p. 34L.

People, October 16, 2006, Bethanne Patrick, review of Leap Days, p. 55.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2006, review of Leap Days, p. 38.

Villager (New York, NY), October 11-17, 2006, Steven Snyder, “Katherine Lanpher’s Midlife Move.”

ONLINE

Katherine Lanpher Home Page, http://www.katherinelanpher.com (January 26, 2007), author biography.*