Judith Krantz at her Bel Air home in 1998. Photo: TNS
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3015798/judith-krantz-us-romance-writer-who-mixed-sex United States & Canada
Judith Krantz, US romance writer who mixed sex with shopping, dies at 91
- Despite writing in a genre labelled ‘trash fiction’ by some, Krantz sold 80 million books, which were translated into more than 50 languages
Author Judith Krantz in 1986. Photo: AP
Judith Krantz, author of blockbuster romance novels including Scruples and Princess Daisy that sold more than 80 million copies worldwide, died on Saturday in Los Angeles from natural causes. She was 91.
Once called “the hardest working woman in trash fiction”, Krantz’s books have been translated into more than 50 languages. Seven have been adapted into television series, with her late husband, Steve Krantz, serving as executive producer for most of them.
Her fantasy novels focused on the lifestyles of the rich and the dangerously beautiful. And there was plenty of sex, of course. In her 2000 memoir Sex and Shopping: The Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl, she explained that every one of her novels included at least one character who loses her virginity because she found her own experience so momentous.
Krantz was born on January 9, 1928, in New York to an advertising executive and a lawyer. She went to Birch Wathen School then Wellesley College, where she graduated in 1948.
Soon after graduation, she moved to Paris and found work as a fashion publicist. She returned to New York the following year and began a career as a magazine journalist, first at Good Housekeeping, where she was eventually promoted to fashion editor.
At a July 4 party hosted by her high school friend Barbara Walters, she met film and television producer and writer Krantz, who would eventually become her husband. They had been married for 53 years when he died in 2007.
In her 27-year journalism career, Krantz freelanced for magazines such as Macleans, McCall’s, Ladies’ Home Journal and Cosmopolitan.
Judith Krantz at her home in Bel Air. Photo: AP
In 1977, inspired by her husband’s encouragement, Krantz published her first novel, Scruples, at the age of 50. After four months, it topped The New York Times bestseller list.
“Halfway through the first chapter, I felt I was flying without wings,” she said in 1990. “I write the best books that I know how. I can’t write any better than this.”
Scruples was followed by Princess Daisy, which also became a New York Times bestseller and set the record at the time for the highest price ever paid for a novel.
She eventually added Mistral’s Daughter, I’ll Take Manhattan, Till We Meet Again, Dazzle, Scruples Two, Lovers, Spring Collection, The Jewels of Tessa Kent and her 2000 memoir to her writing credits.
Krantz was renowned for her discipline and rigour, writing 10,000 words a week and spending countless hours researching the historical eras in which her books were set. Her books often featured working women and themes of empowerment and achievement, complex characters and intricate plots.
Despite her success as a writer, Krantz was often challenged about her choice to write in the genre deemed “trash fiction”.
“You know, people think that because I had a good education, I’m not writing on the level that I should,” she said in 1990. “They think I’m harbouring some slim little intellectual volume, that I am really Isaac Bashevis Singer in disguise.”
The Los Angeles Public Library named the Judith Krantz Fiction Collection in her honour.
She is survived by her sons Tony and Nicholas and daughter-in-law, Kristin Dornig Krantz.