Mark Oppenheimer, 2022 Distinguished Lecturer in Judaic Studies, returns to George Mason University on March 30, 2026, to talk about his landmark biography of Judy Blume. He will speak at 6:30 in Fenwick Library Main Reading Room. This event is open to the public.
To know the name Judy Blume is to know and love literature. Her influential novels turned classics—including Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; Deenie; and Summer Sisters—touched the lives of tens of millions of readers. For more than fifty-five years her work has done something revolutionary: it rewired the world’s expectations of what literature for young people can be—frank, candid, earthy, and unafraid to show the messier sides of humanity. But little is known about the real woman behind the iconic persona, and the unlikely journey of her literary ascension, until now.
In Judy Blume, journalist, historian, and longtime Blume aficionado Mark Oppenheimer pens a beautiful, multidimensional portrait of the acclaimed author through extensive interviews with Blume herself, invaluable access to her papers and correspondence, and thoughtful analysis of Blume’s beloved novels, including early, unpublished works that shed light on the pathbreaking writer she would become. Oppenheimer goes deep, exploring Blume’s middle-class 1950s upbringing, complicated childhood, varied relationships and marriages, unabashed sexual experiences, bouts of heartache and loss, and enduring legacy as a champion of free speech and contemporary literature. Oppenheimer peels back the curtain to reveal the woman behind the literary empire in all her complex, multifaceted glory—a true gift for anyone who grew up reading and loving these extraordinary books.
Mark Oppenheimer is one of the most versatile and incisive commentators about the intersection of religion and culture in the United States. He writes books. Edits a magazine. Writes op-eds for leading newspapers. Hosts a podcast.
Oppenheimer's previous book was Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood. He is the former co-host of Unorthodox and George Mason's own Antisemitism, U.S.A.: A History Podcast. He is currently Professor of Practice and Executive Editor of Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera at Washington University St. Louis.
February 16, 2026