Perri Klass
Encyclopedia
Perri Klass, MD, is a pediatrician and writer, who has published extensively about her medical training and pediatric practice. She is well-known for her writing about the issues of women in medicine, about relationships between doctors and patients, and about children and literacy. She is the author of both fiction and nonfiction: novels, stories, essays, and journalism. Dr. Klass is Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics at New York University
, and Medical Director of Reach Out and Read
, a national childhood literacy program that works through doctors and nurses to encourage parents to read aloud to young children, and to give them the books they need to do it. She is a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and has been nominated by the President of the United States to the Advisory Board of the National Institute For Literacy.
Dr. Klass was born in Trinidad
, where her father, Morton Klass, was doing anthropological field work. She grew up in New York City
and Leonia, New Jersey
. Her father was an anthropology professor at Barnard College
, and her mother a novelist and professor of English at the City University of New York. Dr. Klass received her A.B. in Biology from Harvard University
in 1979. Klass went on to earn her M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1986, and completed her residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital, Boston, and her fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Boston City Hospital.
During her years at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Klass began to chronicle her medical training. In 1984, as a third-year medical student, she wrote a series of columns, published in the New York Times in the series of “Hers Columns,” describing, among other things, the uncertainty of drawing blood for the very first time, the peculiar locutions of hospital jargon, and the emotional subtext of crying in the hospital. She also wrote, in the New York Times Magazine, about the experience of having a baby while in medical school. She went on to write many articles and columns about her training, originally published in Discover Magazine, American Health, Massachusetts Medicine, and other magazines, and later collected in two books about medical training, A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years as a Medical Student, and Baby Doctor: A Pediatrician's Training.
In addition to her accounts of medical training, her books include a memoir in two voices, Every Mother is a Daughter: the Neverending Quest for Success, Inner Peace, and a Really Clean Kitchen, coauthored with her mother, Sheila Solomon Klass, and Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In, coauthored with Eileen Costello, MD. Perri Klass’s novels include The Mystery of Breathing, Other Women’s Children (also made into a Lifetime TV movie), and Recombinations; she has also published two collections of short stories, I Am Having An Adventure, and Love and Modern Medicine. Her short stories have won five O. Henry Awards. Klass’s most recent non-fiction book, Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor was published in 2007; her most recent novel The Mercy Rule, appeared in 2008. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times
Science Section, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Washington Post
, Vogue
, Gourmet
, and many other magazines and newspapers. She writes a regular column in Knitters Magazine, and her knitting essays have been collected in the book Two Sweaters for My Father. She is the recipient of a 2000 James Beard Journalism Award, and the 2006 Women’s National Book Association Award.
Dr. Klass has combined her interest in medicine and literacy to help promote the importance of books to children, through her work with Reach Out and Read
. She became involved with Reach Out and Read when it was a single program in a single hospital, and, through her leadership at the National Center, has helped it grow into a national program, now in more than 4,500 locations in all 50 states, distributing more than 6 million books every year to more than 3.8 million children. Dr. Klass has trained doctors and nurses around the country—and recently around the world, from Portugal to the Philippines—in strategies to incorporate books and literacy guidance into pediatric primary care. In 2006, Dr. Klass spoke at the White House Conference on Global Literacy, where Reach Out and Read
was the only United States program presented. She has also spoken at the UNESCO
Regional Literacy Conferences in Qatar and Mali in 2007, and has made presentations at hospitals and medical centers around the United States.
Dr. Klass has received numerous awards for her work as a pediatrician and educator. In 2007, she received the American Academy of Pediatrics Education Award, which recognized her for educational contributions that have had a broad and positive impact on the health and well being of children. The Academy particularly cited her work with Reach Out and Read
. She lives in New York City with her husband, history professor Larry Wolff. They have three children.
She is the brother of screenwriter David Klass
. Her uncle was Philip Klass, who wrote science fiction under the name William Tenn
.
Appointment as Member of the National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board - Awaiting confirmation
Appointed to National Advisory Council of National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
American Academy of Pediatrics Education Award
Women’s National Book Association Award
Legacy Award, Reach Out and Read of Greater New York
Women to Watch, Jewish Women International
Featured Physician in National Library of Medicine exhibit, Changing the face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians, National Institutes of Health
Radcliffe Alumnae Achievement Award
Virtual Mentor Award, American Medical Association
James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for Magazine Writing on Diet, Nutrition and Health
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...
, and Medical Director of Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read , is an American non-profit organization that advocates for childhood literacy. ROR was founded in 1989 at Boston City Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and was based on the premise to "encourage parents to read regularly to their children and give them the tools to do so." The...
, a national childhood literacy program that works through doctors and nurses to encourage parents to read aloud to young children, and to give them the books they need to do it. She is a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and has been nominated by the President of the United States to the Advisory Board of the National Institute For Literacy.
Dr. Klass was born in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, where her father, Morton Klass, was doing anthropological field work. She grew up in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Leonia, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Her father was an anthropology professor at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
, and her mother a novelist and professor of English at the City University of New York. Dr. Klass received her A.B. in Biology from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1979. Klass went on to earn her M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1986, and completed her residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital, Boston, and her fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Boston City Hospital.
During her years at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Klass began to chronicle her medical training. In 1984, as a third-year medical student, she wrote a series of columns, published in the New York Times in the series of “Hers Columns,” describing, among other things, the uncertainty of drawing blood for the very first time, the peculiar locutions of hospital jargon, and the emotional subtext of crying in the hospital. She also wrote, in the New York Times Magazine, about the experience of having a baby while in medical school. She went on to write many articles and columns about her training, originally published in Discover Magazine, American Health, Massachusetts Medicine, and other magazines, and later collected in two books about medical training, A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years as a Medical Student, and Baby Doctor: A Pediatrician's Training.
In addition to her accounts of medical training, her books include a memoir in two voices, Every Mother is a Daughter: the Neverending Quest for Success, Inner Peace, and a Really Clean Kitchen, coauthored with her mother, Sheila Solomon Klass, and Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In, coauthored with Eileen Costello, MD. Perri Klass’s novels include The Mystery of Breathing, Other Women’s Children (also made into a Lifetime TV movie), and Recombinations; she has also published two collections of short stories, I Am Having An Adventure, and Love and Modern Medicine. Her short stories have won five O. Henry Awards. Klass’s most recent non-fiction book, Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor was published in 2007; her most recent novel The Mercy Rule, appeared in 2008. Her journalism has appeared in 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...
Science Section, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Gourmet
Gourmet (magazine)
Gourmet magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. Founded by Earle R. MacAusland and first published in 1941, Gourmet also covered "good living" on a wider scale....
, and many other magazines and newspapers. She writes a regular column in Knitters Magazine, and her knitting essays have been collected in the book Two Sweaters for My Father. She is the recipient of a 2000 James Beard Journalism Award, and the 2006 Women’s National Book Association Award.
Dr. Klass has combined her interest in medicine and literacy to help promote the importance of books to children, through her work with Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read , is an American non-profit organization that advocates for childhood literacy. ROR was founded in 1989 at Boston City Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and was based on the premise to "encourage parents to read regularly to their children and give them the tools to do so." The...
. She became involved with Reach Out and Read when it was a single program in a single hospital, and, through her leadership at the National Center, has helped it grow into a national program, now in more than 4,500 locations in all 50 states, distributing more than 6 million books every year to more than 3.8 million children. Dr. Klass has trained doctors and nurses around the country—and recently around the world, from Portugal to the Philippines—in strategies to incorporate books and literacy guidance into pediatric primary care. In 2006, Dr. Klass spoke at the White House Conference on Global Literacy, where Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read , is an American non-profit organization that advocates for childhood literacy. ROR was founded in 1989 at Boston City Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and was based on the premise to "encourage parents to read regularly to their children and give them the tools to do so." The...
was the only United States program presented. She has also spoken at the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Regional Literacy Conferences in Qatar and Mali in 2007, and has made presentations at hospitals and medical centers around the United States.
Dr. Klass has received numerous awards for her work as a pediatrician and educator. In 2007, she received the American Academy of Pediatrics Education Award, which recognized her for educational contributions that have had a broad and positive impact on the health and well being of children. The Academy particularly cited her work with Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read , is an American non-profit organization that advocates for childhood literacy. ROR was founded in 1989 at Boston City Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and was based on the premise to "encourage parents to read regularly to their children and give them the tools to do so." The...
. She lives in New York City with her husband, history professor Larry Wolff. They have three children.
She is the brother of screenwriter David Klass
David Klass
David Klass is an American screenwriter and novelist. He has written more than 40 screenplays for Hollywood studios and published 14 young adult novels...
. Her uncle was Philip Klass, who wrote science fiction under the name William Tenn
William Tenn
William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass , a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements.-Early life:...
.
Recent Honors and Awards
- 2008
Appointment as Member of the National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board - Awaiting confirmation
- 2007
Appointed to National Advisory Council of National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
American Academy of Pediatrics Education Award
- 2006
Women’s National Book Association Award
Legacy Award, Reach Out and Read of Greater New York
Women to Watch, Jewish Women International
- 2003-2005
Featured Physician in National Library of Medicine exhibit, Changing the face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians, National Institutes of Health
- 2003
Radcliffe Alumnae Achievement Award
- 2000
Virtual Mentor Award, American Medical Association
James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for Magazine Writing on Diet, Nutrition and Health