About Lily Koppel

Lily Koppel writes for The New York Times among other publications. A graduate of Barnard with a degree in English and creative writing, she studied at Oxford and in Paris. Originally from Hyde Park, the neighborhood in Chicago Obama and his family called home, she lives in New York City.

My Book As a Movie

By Lily Koppel January 16, 2009

"Who’s going to play you in the movie?" Yesterday, I wrote about The Red Leather Diary movie. "Meryl Streep," Florence answers for who she would like to see as her. "Scarlett Johansson for young Florence or for me," I say. Of … Read More

The Movie in My Mind

By Lily Koppel January 16, 2009

"Who’s going to play you in the movie?" From hidden in a teenage diary with a key, 90-year-old Florence was revealed in a book. I have traveled to 20 cities on The Red Leather Diary tour, and with the paperback coming out … Read More

How I Slipped into a Depression-Era Young Woman’s World

By Lily Koppel January 14, 2009

Paging through the original red leather diary for the first time gave me goosebumps. Little flakes of red leather from its worn cover sprinkled onto my white bedspread. Every page and entry was magical. I couldn’t help but think, how did it … Read More

Discovering My Bubbe: When Grandma Was a “Wild Young Thing”

By Lily Koppel January 13, 2009

Yesterday I posted about how when I left my apartment one morning and encountered a dumpster full of old steamer trunks, I climbed in and into what felt like my own movie, an Upper West Side version of Titanic, starring … Read More

Secrets of a Depression-Era Diary

By Lily Koppel January 12, 2009

Lily Koppel, author of The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal, is guest blogging this week as one of Jewcy‘s Lit Klatsch bloggers.  Lily’s book was inspired by her discovery of 90-year-old Florence … Read More