Mary Catherine Gordon (born December 8, 1949) is an American writer from Queens and Valley Stream, New York. She is the McIntosh Professor of English at Barnard College. She is best known for her novels, memoirs and literary criticism. In 2008, she was named Official State Author of New York.
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Early life and education
Mary Gordon was born in Far Rockaway, New York, to Anna (Gagliano) Gordon, an Irish-Italian Catholic mother, and David Gordon, who was also Catholic. Her father died in 1957 when she was young. She strongly identified with him and his love for writing and culture, and continued to learn his myths.
After being widowed, her mother Anna moved from Queens with Mary to live with her own mother, who was Irish Catholic, in Valley Stream, a nearby Nassau County suburb. Anna worked as a secretary to support the three of them. Gordon was reared and educated as Catholic, immersed in a largely Irish Catholic neighborhood. She attended Holy Name of Mary School in Valley Stream and The Mary Louis Academy for high school in Jamaica, New York.