Early Life and Family
Remnick was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of a dentist and an art teacher. He was raised in Hillsdale, New Jersey, in a secular Jewish home with, he has said, "a lot of books around". He is also childhood friends with comedian Bill Maher. He graduated from Princeton University in 1981 with an A. B. in comparative literature; there, he met writer John McPhee and helped found The Nassau Weekly. Remnick has implied that after college he wanted to write novels, but due to his parents' illnesses, he needed a paying job—there was no trust fund to rely upon. Remnick wanted to be a writer, so he chose a career in journalism, taking a job at the Washington Post. He is married to reporter Esther Fein of The New York Times and has three children, Alex, Noah, and Natasha. He enjoys jazz music and classic cinema and is fluent in Russian.
Read more about this topic: David Remnick
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