Nancy Milford

Nancy Lee Milford (née Winston; 1938–2022) was an acclaimed American biographer known for her works on Zelda Fitzgerald and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Born in Dearborn, Michigan, she grew up moving between Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Michigan due to her father's naval service. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1959, followed by a master's (1964) and PhD (1972) from Columbia University, where her dissertation focused on Zelda Fitzgerald.

Milford's career was marked by "Zelda" (1970), a critically acclaimed biography that became a bestseller and was translated into 17 languages. She later wrote "Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay" (2001). Beyond writing, she taught at several universities and held academic positions, including visiting professorships and director roles at institutions like Hunter College and the Leon Levy Center for Biography.

Awards included Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships. She co-founded The Writers Room in NYC, a workspace for writers, with others while working on books. Milford was married and had three children but divorced later in life. She passed away in Manhattan at 84, with no cause of death disclosed.