Martha Weinman Lear

Martha Weinman Lear is the author of three non-fiction books -- Where Did I Leave My Glasses?, the memoir Heartsounds, and The Child Worshippers – and forty years’ worth of articles and essays for The New York Times (The Times Magazine, Sunday Book Review, Sunday Travel, and Arts and Leisure sections); AARP The Magazine, More, Vogue, House Beautiful, Parade, GQ, Redbook, Reader’s Digest, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Mademoiselle, Savvy, McCall’s, et al.

A former staff writer and articles editor for The New York Times Magazine, she has written frequently on cultural and social-science subjects, ranging from the sociology of sex symbols, and the psychology of misers and big spenders, to ethical issues in medical practice.

Both Where Did I Leave My Glasses? and Heartsounds were inspired by personal experience.

In Where Did I Leave My Glasses? The What, When and Why of Normal Memory Loss, she describes how she became worried about the slowing-down of her own memory, had herself tested at a neurology center, was reassured to learn that her memory changes were totally normal, learned also that this kind of memory change is the greatest health worry of millions of baby boomers because they do not know that it is normal, and decided then to write the book that would pass on the reassurance to others.

In Heartsounds, A Story of Love and Loss, she described the medical odyssey of her late husband Haold Lear, himself a doctor who suddenly became a patient – what that odyssey taught him about his profession, and taught them both about their marriage and themselves. The book was a national bestseller, was made into a film and become required reading in many medical schools.
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She lives in Manhattan with her husband, screenwriter Albert Ruben.