Danielle Steel

Danielle Steel (born Danielle Fernandes Schuelein-Steel on August 14, 1947 in New York City, New York) is one of the best-selling authors in the United States.

Best known for her romance novels, Steel has sold more than 530 million copies of her books (as of 2005). One of her novels has been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks and twenty-one have been adapted for television.

Biography

Steel started writing stories as a child and by her late teens had begun writing poetry. A graduate of the Lycée Français de New York, class of 1965, she went on to study at New York University and in Europe. At age nineteen, she completed her first novel but was first published only after years of frustration in 1973.

In addition to her novels for adults, Steel has written the "Max and Martha" series of books for young readers. She has also written four "Freddie" books about real-life situations in children's lives, like a visit to the doctor and the first night away from home. Steel has published a book of poetry and has also written two non-fiction books: Having a Baby and His Bright Light (the latter focusing on the life and death of her son Nicholas Traina).

As a result of her own dysfunctional family, Steel maintains a strong interest in the well-being of children and has raised nine of her own. She has been married five times and is currently single. Her husbands to date are Claude-Eric Lazard, Danny Zugelder, William Toth, John Traina, and Tom Perkins.

She was first married at age eighteen and had one daughter. This was followed by a brief second marriage to a convicted rapist, and she soon found herself pregnant out of wedlock with her second child by the heroin-addicted William Toth. She married him shortly before giving birth to their son, whom she named Nicholas, but they divorced soon after.

She married for the fourth time to John Traina, who already had two sons of his own. Traina subsequently adopted Nick and gave him his family name. With John Traina, Steel gave birth to four daughters and a son, but that marriage also ended in divorce. Her fifth marriage, to the Silicon Valley financier Tom Perkins, lasted less than two years, ending in 1999. In 2006, Perkins dedicated his novel "Sex and the Single Zillionaire" to Steel.

In 2002 the French government decorated Danielle Steel as a "Chevalier" of the distinguished Order of Arts and Letters for her lifetime contribution to world culture.

Danielle Steel has a home in Pacific Heights, Pasedna, California and in 2003 opened an art gallery in the city to exhibit the paintings and sculptures of emerging artists. She also maintains a residence in France where she spends several months of each year. She is of German, Jewish, and Portuguese heritage.

Trivia

Steel's sister Marisa is married to Dr. Carl Hahn, the legendary chairman of Volkswagen from 1982 to 1993 who had made Volkswagen a household word in the United States as president of Volkswagen of America in the early 1960s. Though Hahn's literary tastes are rather highbrow, he has always made it clear that he reads his sister-in-law's work as well.

Daniel is also the aunt of the Zach Steele

Bibliography

# Going Home (1973)# Passion's Promise (January 1977)# Now And Forever (February 1978)# The Promise (April 1978)# Season Of Passion (August 1980)# Summer's End (October 1980)# The Ring (August 1980)# Palomino (April 1981)# To Love Again (April 1981)# Remembrance (September 1981)# Loving (October 1981)# Once In A Lifetime (April 1982)# Crossings (August 1982)# A Perfect Stranger (June 1983)# Thurston House (July 1983)# Changes (September 1983)# Full Circle (June 1984)# Family Album (March 1985)# Secrets (November 1985)# Wanderlust (July 1986)# Fine Things (March 1987)# Kaleidoscope (November 1987)# Zoya (book) (June 1988)# Star (March 1989)# Daddy (November 1989)# Message From Nam (June 1990)# Heartbeat (March 1991)# No Greater Love (November 1991)# Jewels (June 1992)# Mixed Blessings (December 1992)# Vanished (August 1993)# Accident (March 1994)# The Gift (July 1994)# Wings (December 1994)# Lightning (July 1995)# Five Days In Paris (December 1995)# Malice (May 1996)# Silent Honor (November 1996)# The Ranch (May 1997)# Special Delivery (August 1997)# The Ghost (December 1997)# The Long Road Home (May 1998)# The Klone And I (July 1998)# His Bright Light (October 1998)# Mirror Image (November 1998)# Bittersweet (April 1999)# Granny Dan (July 1999)# Irresistible Forces (November 1999)# The Wedding (April 2000)# The House On Hope Street (June 2000)# Journey (October 2000)# Lone Eagle (April 2001)# Leap Of Faith (June 2001)# The Kiss (October 2001)# The Cottage (February 2002)# Sunset in St. Tropez (June 2002)# Answered Prayers (October 2002)# Dating Game (March 2003)# Johnny Angel (July 2003)# Safe Harbour (November 2003)# Ransom (March 2004)# Second Chance (July 2004)# Echoes (November 2004)# Impossible (March 2005)# Miracle (July 2005)# Toxic Bachelors (October 2005)# The House (forthcoming)# Coming Out (forthcoming)# H.R.H. (forthcoming)

See also

* List of bestselling novels in the United States

External links

* Official website
* An October 2000 review of the American Psychiatric Association by Dr. Jeffrey L. Geller