Laura Pedersen
Encyclopedia
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and began an entry-level job at the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
. At age twenty, she was the youngest person to have a seat and became a partner in a trading firm, while earning a finance degree at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
1987.
Her first book, Play Money (1991), became a bestseller, and she appeared on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Primetime Live, The Today Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...
and David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
. In 1994 President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
honored Pedersen as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans. She was a columnist for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
from 1995 to 2002. She was host of her own television show on The Oxygen Channel from 1999-2002.
Pedersen's first novel, Going Away Party, won the 2001 Three Oaks Prize for Fiction. Other novels include The Hallie Palmer series: Beginner’s Luck; Heart’s Desire; The Big Shuffle; and Best Bet. Beginner’s Luck was chosen by Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
for their “Discover Great New Writers” program, and by Borders
Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. was an international book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company employed approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores....
for “Original Voices.” The Big Shuffle was selected as the Best Adult Novel for Teens by The New York Public Library. Best Bet was a Next Generation finalist in the categories of Best Fiction and Best Cover Design. Additional writing includes the romantic comedies Last Call and Fool's Mate, and a collection of short stories The Sweetest Hours. Buffalo Gal (2008), a humorous memoir about growing up in the economically devastated Rust Belt during the 1970s, was named best autobiography by ForeWord magazine, received an honorable mention from The Eric Hoffer Book Award, and an honorable mention at the New York Book Festival. Buffalo Unbound (2010) is a collection of humorous essays about the current revitalization of Pedersen's hometown and the Western New York area. It won the 2011 Indie Book Award in the Humor/Comedy category and was a 2011 International Book Award finalist in the categories of Travel Essay and Humor. Trains, Planes, and Auto-Rickshaws, a collection of humorous essays about traveling through India, will be published in May of 2012.
Pedersen is an ordained minister who occasionally gives sermons at Unitarian Universalist churches and fellowships around the country and in Canada. She teaches at the Booker T. Washington Learning Center in East Harlem, and belongs to The Authors Guild and the international literary association P.E.N.