STEPHANIE CONNELL

1945 - 2021

CONNELL--Stephanie "Stevie" Pierson, passed away peacefully at home in Manhattan on November 9, 2021, following a seven-month illness with lung cancer. Born in 1945 in Paterson, New Jersey, Stevie was raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended the Bryn Mawr School and developed an early love of crab cakes. Following her graduation from Connecticut College in 1967, she embarked upon a decades-long career in New York as an advertising copywriter at firms such as Backer Spielvogel Bates. A successful freelance writer as well, she was a frequent contributor to magazines such as Metropolitan Home and Saveur, and author of numerous books, including "Because I'm the Mother, That's Why" (Delacorte Press, 1994) and "The Brisket Book" (Andrews McMeel, 2011). A New Yorker in the truest sense of the phrase, she possessed a vibrancy and wit second to none, and was a lover of theater, music, arts, and literature. She was beloved for her warmth, ebullience, and flair for connecting people. Following a 30-year marriage to Tom Connell, former stage manager of the Metropolitan Opera, she enjoyed over a decade of love and companionship with her partner, Eric Silver, director of the Lillian Nassau gallery. In addition to Eric, she is survived by her daughter, Phoebe Danziger, her husband, Jacob Danziger, and their daughters, Hazel, Minna, Augusta, and Ida; her step-daughter, Megan Connell, her husband, Ben Colebrook, and their daughter, Lucy; her nephews, Stephen and Ben Pierson and their families; and a wide- ranging collection of loving friends. A memorial service will be held in the spring of 2022. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Page 73 (page73.org), an organization near and dear to Stevie's heart, dedicated to developing and producing the work of early-career playwrights.