Ann Pearlman

Ann Pearlman is a writer of both fiction, and non-fiction books and has been passionate about writing since eighth grade. Getting Free: Women and Psychotherapy was written with two colleagues and used as both a consciousness-raising book in the woman’s movement as well as college textbook. Keep the Home Fires Burning: How to Have an Affair With Your Spouse, garnered the attention of the Oprah Winfrey Show and many other TV talk shows. Her memoir, Infidelity, was nominated for National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, and made into a Lifetime movie by Lionsgate. Inside the Crips, with a foreword by Ice T, took readers into the life of a Crip gang member and the California Prison system. The Christmas Cookie Club became an international bestseller, spawning cookie exchanges and donations to charity. The Christmas Cookie Cookbook: All the Rules and Delicious Recipes to Start Your Own Holiday Cookie Club was written with her friend, Marybeth Bayer, who is a terrific baker as well as the hostess of the cookie exchange Ann attends. A Gift for My Sister hit the stands in the U.S in the spring of 2012 to wonderful reviews. Ann was born in Washington D.C. and, as a child, moved around several Midwestern cities, most notably Chicago and Pittsburgh. After moving to Cleveland, Toronto, Cincinnati, and Kalamazoo, she settled in Ann Arbor, where The Christmas Cookie Club is set. Ann received an undergraduate degree in Anthropology, and a graduate degree in Clinical Social Work and maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Ann Arbor. She studied writing at the University of Michigan, attended workshops at Sewanee and Squaw Valley Writers’ Conferences. When she’s not writing, Ann makes art: metal sculptures, acrylic and watercolor paintings, jewelry, and altered books. Her art is seen throughout this site and can be viewed in the gallery. She also loves to dance to a wide assortment of music (blues, rock, rap, and classical) and work out. On a winter day in Ann Arbor, you can find Ann with her friends or family making homemade jams, cookies and inventing recipes. Or escaping the snow for a beach and snorkeling. Ann has three children and four grandchildren.