Laurie David

Laurie David
Born
Laurie Ellen Lennard

(1958-03-22) March 22, 1958 (age 66)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
Alma materOhio University
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1993; div. 2007)​
  • Robert Thorpe
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2012)​
Children2, including Cazzie David

Laurie Ellen David (née Lennard; born March 22, 1958) is an American environmental activist, producer, and writer. She produced the Academy Award–winning An Inconvenient Truth (2006) and partnered with Katie Couric to executive produce Fed Up (2014), a film about the causes of obesity in the United States. She serves as a trustee on the Natural Resources Defense Council and a member of the Advisory Board of the Children's Nature Institute and is a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post.

Personal life

Laurie Ellen Lennard was born and raised in a middle class Jewish family on Long Island.[1][2] She was married to Larry David from March 31, 1993, to July 13, 2007.[3] They have two daughters.[4][5]

In 2007, David retained nearly half of their net worth following their divorce.[6] She married Robert Thorpe in 2012.[citation needed]

Entertainment industry

Before working full-time on environmental and political issues, David worked in the entertainment industry. She began her career in New York City as a talent coordinator for Late Night with David Letterman. Four years later, she left to start her own management company, representing comedians and comedy writers.[7]

David also produced several comedy specials for HBO, Showtime, MTV, and Fox Television. Upon moving to Los Angeles, she became vice president of comedy development for a division of Fox Broadcasting and developed sitcoms for 20th Century Fox Television.[8][9] After leaving to raise her daughters, she was one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, which won an Academy Award.[10]

Activism

Climate change

Laurie David has worked publicly on projects aimed at stopping climate change. She founded the Stop Global Warming Virtual March[11] with Senator John McCain and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. David has produced other projects to bring the issue of climate change into the mainstream popular culture, including the release of her first book, Stop Global Warming: The Solution Is You!, and the comedy special Earth to America!, which aired on TBS on November 20, 2005.

Aside from the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, David produced HBO's Too Hot Not to Handle (a documentary on the effects of climate change in the U.S.), which aired on April 22, 2006. She appeared in Big Ideas for a Small Planet, an environmentalist documentary series on the Sundance Channel.

In a 2006 interview with The Guardian, David admitted that owning two homes on opposite sides of the country and flying in a private jet several times per year is at odds with her message: "Yes, I take a private plane on holiday a couple of times a year, and I feel horribly guilty about it. I probably shouldn't do it. But the truth is, I'm not perfect. This is not about perfection. I don't expect anybody else to be perfect either. That's what hurts the environmental movement – holding people to a standard they cannot meet. That just pushes people away."[12]

Campaigns

As a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and a founding member of The Detroit Project, David has spearheaded numerous public education and action campaigns urging Congress and automakers to raise fuel efficiency standards and make higher mileage cars.[8] In January 2004, the NRDC opened the David Family Environmental Action Center.[13]

Awards

In 2003, David was honored by the Riverkeeper organization.[14] She also received the Los Angeles-based Children's Nature Institute's Leaf Award in 2003 for her commitment to the environmental education of young children.[15]

In October 2006, Glamour featured David as one of its "Women of the Year".[16] She received the Gracie Allen Award for Individual Achievement from American Women in Radio & Television[17] and the NRDC's 2006 Forces for Nature award for her work against global warming.[citation needed]

David has received numerous other awards and honors, including the Producers Guild of America's Stanley Kramer Award and a Humanitas Prize Special Award[citation needed]. Her environmental work has been honored with the National Audubon Society's Rachel Carson Award in 2007,[18] the Feminist Majority's Eleanor Roosevelt Award,[19] and Bette Midler's Green Goddess Award in 2019.[20]

Books

David has written two cookbooks on healthy eating and the importance of family dinner. The Family Dinner was published in 2010, with recipes by Kirstin Uhrenholdt, a foreword by Harvey Karp, and an afterword by Jonathan Safran Foer. The book advocates a return to the domestic tradition of an evening meal (sometimes called supper) shared around the family table.[21] The Family Cooks was published a few years later.[22]

She co-wrote a book on climate for kids, The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming.[23] In 2021, she co-wrote Imagine It! A Handbook for a Happier Planet, published by Random House/Rodale.[24]

Bibliography

  • David, Laurie (2006). Stop Global Warming: The Solution Is You!. Fulcrum. ISBN 978-1-55591-621-3.

References

  1. ^ Farndale, Nigel (May 20, 2007). "Earth girls aren't easy". The Telegraph.
  2. ^ Schleier, Curt (November 18, 2005). "The Real Cheryl David, And She's Jewish". The Jewish Week. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
  3. ^ Finn, Natalie (July 16, 2007). "Divorcing Larry David". E!. Retrieved April 2, 2008.
  4. ^ "Laurie Ellen David v. Lawrence Gene David Petition for Dissolution of Marriage" (PDF). Los Angeles Superior Court. July 13, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 3, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2017 – via TMZ.com.
  5. ^ "Larry David Biography". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012.
  6. ^ Weisman, Aly (March 4, 2015). "Here's why Larry David says he isn't really worth half a billion". Business Insider India.
  7. ^ Blair, Elizabeth (May 7, 2007). "Laurie David: One Seriously 'Inconvenient' Woman". NPR.
  8. ^ a b "An interview with Hollywood eco-crusader Laurie David". Grist. June 17, 2004.
  9. ^ Rosman, Katherine (May 15, 2012). "Laurie David: Hollywood's Political Power Broker". Elle.
  10. ^ "An Inconvenient Truth". Britannica.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  11. ^ Stop Global Warming website Archived 2007-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Pilkington, Ed (November 18, 2006). "On a mission to the stars". The Guardian. - Laurie David interview
  13. ^ "Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie David Open NRDC Environmental Action Center, Part of Conservation Group's Drive for Mass Activism". NRDC. January 22, 2004.
  14. ^ "Laurie David". Variety. November 29, 2006.
  15. ^ Children's Nature Institute website Archived 2004-10-12 at archive.today
  16. ^ Tram Kim Nguyen (October 27, 2006). "The Earth Angel". Glamour. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  17. ^ "2006 Gracies Gala Winners (Television)". Alliance for Women in Media. October 24, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  18. ^ "The Rachel Carson Award Honorees: Meet the current winners and those from years past". Audubon. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  19. ^ "Feminist Majority Foundation Hosts Third Global Awards Dinner". Feminist Majority Foundation. May 18, 2007.
  20. ^ "Hulaween 2019". New York Restoration Project. October 29, 2019.
  21. ^ David, Laurie; Uhrenholdt, Kirstin (2010). The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time. Grand Central Life & Style. ISBN 9780446565462.
  22. ^ David, Laurie; Uhrenholdt, Kirstin; Bacon, Quentin (2014). The Family Cooks: 100+ Recipes to Get Your Family Craving Food That's Simple, Tasty, and Incredibly Good for You. Rodale Books. ISBN 9781623362508.
  23. ^ David, Laurie; Gordon, Cambria (2008). The Down-to-earth Guide to Global Warming. Scholastic. ISBN 9781741691245.
  24. ^ David, Laurie; Reisman, Heather (2021). Imagine It! A Handbook for a Happier Planet. Rodale Books. ISBN 9780593235157.