Helene Stapinski
Helene Stapinski is the author of Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History, which recounts her family's criminal history, and Baby Plays Around: A Love Affair with Music, which chronicles her years playing drums in a rock band in Manhattan. She has written extensively for The New York Times as well as for New York magazine, Salon, Travel & Leisure and dozens of other publications and essay collections. On the recently released documentary based on Five-Finger Discount, she has worked as a producer and writer. Stapinski has been a radio newscaster in Alaska, has appeared on National Public Radio, was a featured performer with The Moth, has lectured at her alma mater, Columbia University, and teaches writing at Fordham University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.
