September 6th, 2009 
Lesley M.M. Blume
A week or so ago, I introduced my readers to New York Jewelry Designer, Lisa Salzer of Lulu Frost who is on The Vogue 100 with me. Thus far, the roster of 100 accomplished women hand-selected by Vogue to be part of The Vogue 100 has been unpublished and secretive. I was told that it features top women in business, fashion, politics, art, media and entertainment nationwide. We all gave Vogue our headshot and bio, but so far we haven’t received a comprehensive list of the other members of The Vogue 100. Aside from my friend Katie Rost, who I will profile soon, I am searching for other members online and am finding Vogue‘s selection to be very strong, and diverse.
Today, I’d like you to meet New York City native, Lesley M. M. Blume who has authored three critically-acclaimed children’s books for Knopf and is currently finishing her fourth, which will be released in fall 2010. Her most recent novel, Tennyson which was released in early 2008 was adored by reviewers and critics who placed her in the same class as writers Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and Truman Capote. It recently came out in paperback, and is about a young girl who discovers her ruined, elite Depression-era family’s ignoble history in Louisiana’s plantation country. I have always suspected that New Yorkers have a love-hate relationship with the South. They can say what they want, but we sure do make for great characters, don’t we? According to Liesl Schillinger, book reviewer for The New York Times, “Officially marketed as a middle-grade novel, Tennyson‘s “brilliant, unusual writing” (Chicago Tribune) and timeless, tough themes make this book compelling reading for audiences of all ages.” So I have purchased Tennyson and encourage you to do the same. I am really looking forward to reading it!
Before writing books, Lesley began her career as a journalist at The Jordan Times in Amman and Cronkite Productions in New York City. She lived in here in Washington when she worked as an off-air reporter for ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel, and covered the historic presidential election in 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and countless other events and topics.
Now writing full-time, Ms. Blume has covered culture, media, politics, and fashion (and sometimes the thorny politics of fashion) for many publications, including Vogue, Slate, and The Daily Beast. She is a featured contributor at The Big Money and is also a contributing style editor at The Huffington Post. In fall 2010, Chronicle Books will release a book by Ms. Blume based on her popular Let’s Bring Back column for The Huffington Post.
Take a look at her recent article, “Karl Lagerfeld Called Me ‘Ugly'” for The Huffington Post” about Mr. Lagerfeld’s answer to one of the questions in Harper’s Bazaar’s “What Would Coco Do?” Another article on Feminity and Feminism is her wonderful article for The Huffington Post last year about “Why Hillary Won’t Vogue for Vogue“
I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting Lesley, and I hope to share other members of The Vogue 100 with you soon!
– Miss A