Tamara Shopsin

Tamara Shopsin is a mystery to me. We’ve sold her brilliant 5 Year Diary for some time now, and I’ve written fan letters, but sadly I can only pass on what I’ve learned about her secondhand.

If my limited detective skills serve me right, then Tamara is a talented young designer, daughter of Manhatten food legend Kenny Shopsin, and managing scion of the fabulous Shopsin’s General Store novelty section (See NYT Paper Cuts, “‘Tank Yew Vedy Much’” by Dwight Garner, 24 Aug 2007). If you check out her website, you’ll see a selection of her designs, including many familiar ones for the New York Times. And then there’s this Top Ten Reasons I Love America list, tagged “Tamara Shopsin”—though perhaps she just provided the illustration?—but in any case seems to reveal Tamara as a kindred soul.