About the Author
A funny thing happened to Michelle Arnot on her way to a master's degree in 18th Century French literature at Columbia University: She ended up making a career of her hobby in crosswords. Instead of writing a thesis, Michelle constructed a crossword. When the puzzle was accepted for publication, she switched gears and has been involved with puzzles ever since.
Michelle has been omnipresent in the world of puzzles since the publication of her book What's Gnu: The History of the Crossword Puzzle (Vintage Books, 1981). She has served as editor and publisher of dozens of national puzzle magazines, most notably for The Herald Tribune and the Kappa Publishing Group. Additionally, she taught seminars on solving for the New School For Social Research and the Learning Annex. Her editoral career gradually extended into the marketing of puzzle magazines in the direct mail arena.
In her other life, Michelle is a health writer who specalizes in subjects of interest to women. She's written books on topics as diverse as infertility and foot care.
When she's not at the word processor, Michelle is often found tramping the hills around Sandisfield, Massachusetts, where she and her family keep busy with their 150-year-old house. An avid birdwatcher, Michelle likes to match faces to the avian references she reads about in puzzles. You can easily identify Michelle in warm weather by her T-shirt adorned with a crossword grid.
