Lucianne Goldberg

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Lucianne Goldberg : biography

April 29, 1935 –

Feminist Betty Friedan alleged in June 1973 that Goldberg, as an organizer of the Pussycat League, had been attempting to derail the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment by engaging in Watergate-style "dirty tricks" and by touring the country falsely telling women they would lose their husbands and rights to family support if the amendment was passed.

Literary agent and author

Goldberg ultimately set up her own literary agency and became known as a promoter of "right-wing, tell-all attack books", according to The New York Times. One of her clients, celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, sued her in 1983 over proceeds from foreign sales of Kelley’s unauthorized biography on Elizabeth Taylor. Kelley ultimately won a judgment of $40,000, with the judge declaring that Goldberg was only guilty of "sloppy bookkeeping". Goldberg was also the U.S. agent for the memoirs of Prince Charles’ former valet, which were blocked for publication in England by Queen Elizabeth. In the early 1990s Goldberg promoted a conspiracy theory book about the suicide death of Clinton White House aide, Vincent Foster, and several books dealing with Clinton’s purported sexual infidelities including one by Arkansas State Troopers who alleged they had procured women to have sex with then-Governor Clinton. None of the Clinton-themed books were ever published. Goldberg was also the agent for former detective Mark Fuhrman’s bestselling account of the O.J. Simpson trial, Murder in Brentwood.

Goldberg has written several novels. Friends in High Places co-written with Sondra Robinson, was published in 1979. Her first solo novel Madame Cleo’s Girls, a story of three high-priced call girls, was published in 1992, followed by People Will Talk in 1994. She has also ghostwritten for celebrities; the romance novel Washington Wives (1987) penned under the name of Maureen Dean, wife of Watergate figure John Dean) is one of her behind-the-scenes works.

Personal life

Lucianne was married to Sidney Goldberg, a wealthy newspaper executive with United Features Syndicate from 1966 until his death in 2005. The couple had two children, Joshua (1967–2011) who was the editor of her websites as well as the 2009 Republican nominee for the New York City Council seat representing district number six on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, who lost the election to the current Democratic incumbent Gale Brewer; and Jonah (born in 1969), who is a best selling author and conservative political commentator. The children were raised in their father’s Jewish faith, while Lucianne who was raised an Episcopalian, remained a Christian.