About Lauren
I grew up with the privilege of being raised by my parents and my Grandma, who lived across the street, a la Everybody Loves Raymond.My Grandma was a master storyteller, a 4’6” Sicilian-American dynamo who owned a beauty parlor, cooked like a dream, and captivated everyone with her tales. Everything I know about great storytelling, I first learned from her before ever learning it in an academic or technical sense. She inspired both my writing and my career as a lawyer.
As a lawyer, I’ve found fulfillment helping others—especially through pro bono and asylum work—but legal writing doesn’t allow for much creative expression. I started this Substack to reconnect with the kind of storytelling that nourishes the soul and to share stories, essays, and reflections that have been on my heart for years.
The title An Astonishing Achievement is a nod to Carl Sagan and his belief in the magic of writing. He once said:
“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”
My Grandma taught me that the best stories—the ones that change us—reveal Truth.
Through my writing, I explore many topics and genres, but the constant thread in all my storytelling is a pursuit of Truth. I will continue this theme as I venture into journalistic writing for the first time with my coverage of the Luigi Mangione trial, while continuing to write on a range of other topics and content.
How Can You Support Me?
The best way to support me is to subscribe and share my Substack! Paid subscriptions are only $5/month, and free subscriptions are also greatly appreciated.
