2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
'Preppy' author Birnbach '78 finds new niche in radio
Brianna Barzola
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: Features
It's a testament to how successful Lisa Birnbach '78 has become that not only is she receiving two Gracie Awards this year for her radio show, "The Lisa Birnbach Show," but she's also gained approval from another radio host working in the same building. "I guess you don't suck," she recalled humorist and Senate hopeful Al Franken telling her.
Though Birnbach is an accomplished author and radio host, she said she was "just another fun-loving, pass/fail-taking member of my class" during her days at Brown. She said she came to Brown for its creative writing program.
As a student, Birnbach was heavily involved in a number of activities: She wrote for The Herald and its now-defunct weekly magazine, Fresh Fruit, hosted her own show on WBRU called "Women's View" and participated in student government and a peer counseling program. "Brown gave me the opportunity to try everything, and I managed to cram in a lot," she said.
As an aspiring writer, Birnbach said, "I had some idea that I wanted to work in journalism or media within New York, but I didn't realize all of the possibilities then. I came to a point where I realized that the New York Times wasn't sitting there waiting for me to graduate and give me a job right out of college. It's just unrealistic to think that way."
So instead of working for the Times, Birnbach landed a dream job at the Village Voice a few months after graduation, writing a column for the newspaper called "Scenes."
"It was a great job because I was doing what I loved to do," Birnbach said. It was also a job that gave her the idea for her most famous book to date, "The Official Preppy Handbook," published in 1980.
"My big break was definitely with 'Preppy Handbook,' no doubt. I was working at the Village Voice at the time, and I got the offer to write the book - it originally wasn't my idea," she said.
With the chance to write a tongue-in-cheek book about the world of prepsters, Birnbach said she looked back at her own life and her college years for inspiration. "I remember I was going to play squash, and I wore a pink Lacoste polo shirt with a green sweater - now, I didn't know anything about matching those two colors together, but apparently it worked, and I found others who wore similar outfits too. One wouldn't think that you could find Preppies at a school like Brown, but I found them," Birnbach said. "You know, the polo shirts with the rugby shirts on top - so many layers!"
Though Birnbach is an accomplished author and radio host, she said she was "just another fun-loving, pass/fail-taking member of my class" during her days at Brown. She said she came to Brown for its creative writing program.
As a student, Birnbach was heavily involved in a number of activities: She wrote for The Herald and its now-defunct weekly magazine, Fresh Fruit, hosted her own show on WBRU called "Women's View" and participated in student government and a peer counseling program. "Brown gave me the opportunity to try everything, and I managed to cram in a lot," she said.
As an aspiring writer, Birnbach said, "I had some idea that I wanted to work in journalism or media within New York, but I didn't realize all of the possibilities then. I came to a point where I realized that the New York Times wasn't sitting there waiting for me to graduate and give me a job right out of college. It's just unrealistic to think that way."
So instead of working for the Times, Birnbach landed a dream job at the Village Voice a few months after graduation, writing a column for the newspaper called "Scenes."
"It was a great job because I was doing what I loved to do," Birnbach said. It was also a job that gave her the idea for her most famous book to date, "The Official Preppy Handbook," published in 1980.
"My big break was definitely with 'Preppy Handbook,' no doubt. I was working at the Village Voice at the time, and I got the offer to write the book - it originally wasn't my idea," she said.
With the chance to write a tongue-in-cheek book about the world of prepsters, Birnbach said she looked back at her own life and her college years for inspiration. "I remember I was going to play squash, and I wore a pink Lacoste polo shirt with a green sweater - now, I didn't know anything about matching those two colors together, but apparently it worked, and I found others who wore similar outfits too. One wouldn't think that you could find Preppies at a school like Brown, but I found them," Birnbach said. "You know, the polo shirts with the rugby shirts on top - so many layers!"