For Immediate Release:

Contact: Leda Sanford (415) 331-0815

New memoir shares career details of the first female publisher of a national magazine

Leda Sanford rejected suburbia, became a top magazine editor and publisher in Manhattan, and pushed the industry's standards

SAUSALITO, CA — Impetuous Leda Sanford abandoned secure suburbia in the 1960s in exchange for a life on the edge, as a top magazine editor and publisher, in the competitive and male-dominated Manhattan magazine publishing world. Her new memoir, Pure Moxie, is set in the 'Mad Men' period of magazine publishing and advertising — complete with the day drinking, romance, scandal and drama. 

            Unorthodox entrepreneurs hired Sanford at a time when women rarely occupied corner offices. Pure Moxie recreates a world of jet-setting opulence many women can only fantasize about—private planes, five-star hotels, and a state dinner at the White House—plus a headline-making affair.

            In 1975, Sanford became the first female publisher of a major U.S. magazine (American Home) with a circulation of more than one million, where she focused on the emerging liberated woman's demanding lifestyle and challenged the traditional formula of women's magazines. From her American Home launch pad, Sanford continually pushed the industry's hidebound standards as she directed the creation and reinvention of magazines that included Bon Appetit, Chief Executive, the award-winning Attenzione, AARP's Modern Maturity, and Age Wave's Get Up and Go!. In the early 1990's, Sanford shifted her focus to promoting a new attitude toward aging, emphasizing how reinvention can enrich one's life. 

About the author:

   Born in Tuscany and raised in the Bronx, Sanford married at age 19. She divorced her husband 14 years later and rose to the top of the magazine publishing field while raising two sons, remarrying, divorcing and finally retiring to the Bay Area of California. She currently lives in Sausalito, California.

            Sanford's book Look for the Moon in the Morning, published in 2006 by Elders Academy Press, is a collection of her motivating columns.

For more information:

           Pure Moxie is available online at www.barnesandnoble.com, www.amazon.com and the www.iuniverse.com bookstore. It can be purchased in hardcover, paperback or as an eBook. For more information about Sanford and Pure Moxie, visit www.puremoxiebook.com or www.ledasanford.com.

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