Martha Lear

Author Bio

Martha Weinman Lear is a former staff writer and articles editor for The New York Times Magazine. She has written frequently on medical and behavioral issues, including the "Body & Mind" column in The Times Magazine, and has written for many national publications, such as AARP The Magazine, Parade, Reader's Digest, Vogue, House Beautiful, Redbook, Women's Day, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal and others.

"Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When and Why of Normal Memory Loss" is her third book. Both previous books, "The Child Worshippers" and "Heartsounds", were New York Times bestsellers. "Heartsounds", which was the story of her late husband, Dr. Harold Lear, and how his critical cardiac illness affected their marriage and his own view of the medical profession, became required reading in many medical schools across the country. The book was made into an award-winning film, with Mary Tyler Moore playing the author and James Garner portraying her husband.

Ms. Lear is now at work on a novel. "I think every non-fiction writer yearns, if only in secret, to write fiction," she says. "In journalism, you are bound by facts. You are earthbound. In fiction, you're airborne, suddenly liberated from the tyranny of facts and free to fly wherever your imagination can take you. It's scary — Look, ma, no net! — but exhilarating."

A native of Boston, Ms. Lear is re-married and lives with her husband, the screenwriter Albert Ruben, in Manhattan.