Terry Martin Hekker

Born in Brooklyn to a large, loving and funny Irish family, Terry Martin was the first grandchild of two large clans. In 1941, the Martin family headed north to the country, where Terry’s father ran the Bear Mountain Inn along the Hudson River, changing lives dramatically.

With World War II rations and six children to support, the Inn was transformed into a sports training camp. Frequent guests included The Brooklyn Dodgers, The Knicks, The Giants and the Golden Glovers, who became family friends. The Inn welcomed three U.S. Presidents and many personalities and celebrities who often mingled with Terry and her siblings.

In the mid-fifties, Terry married a handsome Marine, struggled with him through Georgetown Law School, and settled in a drafty Victorian house in the lower Hudson Valley town of Nyack. Soon after, the family grew with one girl and four boys.

In 1978, Terry wrote an article about being a full-time housewife in the age of the liberated woman, which ran as an Op-Ed column in The New York Times. Its popularity led Terry to write the 1980 bestselling book, EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE, published by William Morrow.  Magazine columns for King Features, McCALLS and GOOD HOUSEKEEPING followed, along with a consumer column for CBS Publications. 

Ms. Hekker was interviewed on the Today Show, Dinah Shore and every major local morning program, including (a young) Oprah in Baltimore. For many years, Terry was asked to lecture around the country as a recognized authority on homemaking and motherhood as her children were gaining independence of their own.

On their 40th wedding anniversary, Terry’s husband asked for a divorce, leaving Terry emotionally and financially stranded, with no choice but to re-invent her life. Terry became involved in various community endeavors, from theatre to politics, which led to her being elected the first woman mayor of her century-old village of Nyack.  

In January 2006, Terry’s popularity enjoyed a resurgence, as her new life story appeared in an article published in The New York Times Modern Love column. This time, Terry wrote about life after divorce, surviving the feminine and sexual revolution, and gender roles that continue to shift, alter and bewilder.  

In writing DISREGARD FIRST BOOK, Terry hopes to enlighten and give perspective to younger men and women, and, comfort and energize the many older women to whom life has not always been kind. And, make readers laugh, which is the greatest gift of all.

Terry still makes her home in Nyack, lives a rich life pursuing friendships and remains active in community affairs and kept busy by a large and devoted family, especially her twelve extraordinary grandchildren.

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