20 Facts About Judith Rossner

Judith Rossner's father, Joseph Perelman, was a textile official; her mother, Dorothy Perelman, was a public school-teacher.

Judith Rossner wanted to be a writer, even before she could read or write, and dictated poems and stories to her "warmly supportive" mother.

Judith Rossner was encouraged by an uncle, the American-Canadian writer Charles Yale Harrison, best known for his best-selling story of World War I, Generals Die in Bed.

Judith Rossner left college to marry Robert Rossner, a teacher and writer.

Robert Judith Rossner taught Creative Writing at the Bronx High School of Science.

Judith Rossner worked as a secretary at various jobs while continuing to write.

Judith Rossner gave up a job at Scientific American because her interest in the work interfered with her writing.

Judith Rossner went to work instead in a real estate office and finished her first novel, To the Precipice.

In 1971, missing the city, Judith Rossner moved back to New York with her children.

Judith Rossner went to work as a secretary in a methadone clinic to support herself and her children.

Judith Rossner, who had been recovering from a car accident, had become interested in the true story of Roseann Quinn, a 28-year-old schoolteacher who had been brutally murdered in January 1973 by a man she had reportedly picked up in a singles bar.

Judith Rossner wrote an article about Quinn, but Esquire declined to publish it, fearing legal ramifications.

Judith Rossner, who considered herself a "lousy journalist," decided to write the story as a novel.

Judith Rossner sold the film rights to Paramount for $250,000; the film adaptation was released in 1977, Written and directed by Richard Brooks, it stars Diane Keaton, Tuesday Weld, William Atherton, and Richard Gere.

Diagnosis had been delayed: Judith Rossner's mother had committed suicide, and Judith Rossner thought initially that her symptoms were psychosomatic.

Some suggested that Judith Rossner had "lost her touch," neglecting to take into the account the difficulties she had encountered during its writing as she battled her illness.

In 2002, Judith Rossner married educational publisher Stanley Leff, with whom she had begun a relationship in 1985.

Judith Rossner died from complications of diabetes and leukemia on August 9,2005, at New York University Medical Center in Manhattan.

Judith Rossner was survived by her husband, two children, her sister, and three grandchildren.

Judith Rossner's papers are held at the Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University.