- Jessica Seinfeld
-
Jessica Seinfeld 
Seinfeld at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair partyBorn Nina Danielle Sklar
September 12, 1971
Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, U.S.Occupation author, philanthropist Spouse Eric Nederlander (1998)
Jerry Seinfeld (1999–present)Jessica Seinfeld (born Nina Danielle Sklar, September 12, 1971 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York) is the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, author of two cookbooks about preparing food for children and the whole family, and founder of Baby Buggy, a New York City Charitable organization that provides essential gear, clothing and products for families in need throughout the five boroughs of New York City.[1]
Contents
Early life
Sklar grew up in a middle class household in Burlington, Vermont. Her father, Karl, designs computer systems and databases in Burlington. Her mother, Ellen, is a coordinator of volunteer programs at the Vermont Department of Corrections. United States Senator Bernie Sanders was a neighbor when she was growing up in Burlington. She graduated from the University of Vermont, and worked in public relations for Golden Books Entertainment, as well as for Tommy Hilfiger.
Divorce
After marrying Eric Nederland, and returning from a honeymoon, Jessica met Jerry Seinfeld at a gym (with the gym membership her new husband Mr. Nederland purchased for her) and began an affair with Jerry Seinfeld. Though Sklar maintains her marriage was over before she and Jerry began their romance, her former husband was livid. "I was manipulated, misled and completely caught off guard by Jessica's infidelity," he told the New York Post on Nov. 9, 1998. "Jerry and Jessica have no respect for decent values. They deserve each other." He promptly filed for divorce.
Baby Buggy
Baby Buggy was founded in May 2001 by Jessica Seinfeld after the birth of her first child.[2] According to Jessica, “shortly after the birth of my daughter, Sascha, having slowly accumulated closets full of used – but very usable – baby clothing and equipment she no longer needed, I had a moral dilemma; as the daughter of a social worker, throwing out perfectly good baby gear was unthinkable; and yet there was no easy way to get it to a family who could use it. Thus, Baby Buggy was born.”[3] With a motto of “Love Recycled,” Baby Buggy's goal is to help families in need access the essentials to ensure their safety and well-being. By providing concrete resources to their families through a network of social service professionals, Baby Buggy helps to alleviate the stress of living in poverty, and help prevent crisis. In total, Baby Buggy has donated over 4.4 million items to hundreds of thousands of families in need in the past nine years.[4]
Baby Buggy works with a network of over 50 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and City agencies[5] to distribute its goods including: organizations working with victims of domestic violence like Safe Horizon and New York Asian Women’s Center; multi-service sites like Single Stop East Harlem and Lenox Hill Neighborhood House; prenatal and NICU units at hospitals like Woodhull and NY Presbyterian; immigrant and refugee-serving organizations like the International Rescue Committee; and parenting programs such as the nationally-recognized Nurse-Family Partnership program and Harlem Children’s Zone’s Baby College.
About $2 Million of Baby Buggy’s budget is made up of in-kind product donations from individuals and corporations. Financial support for the organization comes through its Board of Directors, the Friends of Baby Buggy group, other private individuals, corporations and foundations. As of 2008, 88 cents of every dollar received by Baby Buggy went straight to programs.[6] In 2009, Baby Buggy received its third Four Star rating from Charity Navigator. The charity is also an Accredited Charity of the Better Business Bureau.
In July 2010, Baby Buggy launched a layette collection with Target Corporation, with 10% of sales going to help families in need.[7] The layette line was designed by illustrator and children’s book author Maira Kalman.
Cookbooks
In October 2007, Jessica released her first cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food,[8] which contains strategies and recipes for making healthy food appealing to young children. The book features traditional recipes such as mac and cheese and spaghetti and meatballs that get a nutritional boost from vegetable purees. Deceptively Delicious was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, became a #1 New York Times bestseller, remaining on the list for five months after its release.[9] The book also reached #1 on Amazon.com and #2 on the USA Today bestseller list. Expert Joy Bauer adds nutritional advice to the recipes, while Dr. Roxana Mehran and Dr. Mehmet Oz pen the foreword. A portion of the royalties from Deceptively Delicious are donated to Baby Buggy.[10]
In October 2010, Jessica released the follow-up to Deceptively Delicious—her second cookbook Double Delicious! Good, Simple Food for Busy, Complicated Lives.[11] Building on the concept of her first book, Jessica shares more healthy twists on traditional recipes—including many dishes designed to please the palates of kids and adults alike. Her recipes in Double Delicious! also incorporate vegetable purees, whole grains, and alternatives to processed sugars and flours to give the food a hidden boost of essential nutrients. Nutrition expert Joy Bauer offers more advice on how to live a healthy lifestyle. Double Delicious! was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show on October 26, 2010.[12]
Do it Delicious
In October 2010, Jessica launched a website for beginner cooks called do it Delicious.[13] The website features home videos where Jessica teaches at-home viewers how to prepare particular dishes or meals step-by-step, as well as a kitchen guide, store, blog, and community forum where users can submit tips and ask how-to questions.[14]
Personal life
Jessica and her husband Jerry Seinfeld in New York, April 2010
In June 1998, she married Eric Nederlander, a theatrical producer and Broadway scion.[15] Shortly after returning from a three-week honeymoon in Italy, she met Jerry Seinfeld at a Reebok Sports Club (using the same gym membership her then-husband had purchased for her). She filed for divorce from Nederlander in October 1998, only four months after marrying him. She then married Seinfeld on December 25, 1999.[16] Comedian George Wallace was the best man at the wedding. After much criticism on her divorce from Nederlander and subsequent marriage to Jerry Seinfeld, Jessica and Jerry gave a personal account of their life to Vogue in November 2004. Jessica is quoted as saying, “I met Jerry at the end of what was the most difficult period of my life. I had just made a painful decision to dissolve a five-year relationship that began when I was 21 and culminated in a brief marriage. Jerry was neither the cause nor the effect of the breakup, but his friendship gave me strength and resilience at a time of desperate need, and it has formed the basis for my happiness in the years that have followed.”[17]
According to Jerry Seinfeld on the relationship, “If it wasn’t for Jess and the kids, I’d really blow my brains out. Jessica saved my life. She gave me something to care about.”[18]
The Seinfelds have three children, one daughter and two sons. Daughter Sascha was born on November 7, 2000 in New York City,[19] son Julian Kal on March 1, 2003 in New York City,[20] and Shepherd Kellen was born on August 22, 2005 at New York's Cornell Medical Center.[21][22]
Lawsuit dismissal
Following the release of her first book Deceptively Delicious, on January 7, 2008, another author, Missy Chase Lapine sued Seinfeld for copyright and trademark infringement.[23] Lapine had unsuccessfully shopped her manuscript to several publishers, including Seinfeld's (HarperCollins) before it chose to publish Seinfeld's.[24] In response to the accusations, Seinfeld said: "My book came from years of trying to get my own children to eat healthy foods--my own trial and error in my own kitchen. The idea of pureeing vegetables has been around for decades."[25]
In separate court papers, a lawyer for Jessica Seinfeld accused Lapine of falsely claiming she invented the idea of hiding fruits and vegetables in children's meals when "countless prior works utilized this very same unprotectable idea," including a 1971 book. He called the lawsuit "opportunistic."[26]
On September 10, 2009, the federal judge threw out all claims against Jessica Seinfeld. The federal judge ruled that "no reasonable fact finder could conclude" that copying occurred, and that the works were "very different" and that Seinfeld's book "has a completely different feel."[27]
In February 2011, Seinfeld's law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher said: "The decision also vindicates HarperCollins and Jessica Seinfeld yet again, confirming what the two different federal courts have already ruled: Jessica independently created her bestselling book, 'Deceptively Delicious.'"[28]
References
- ^ http://www.babybuggy.org/index.php?section=about&page=history
- ^ http://www.tonic.com/article/jessica-seinfelds-passion-baby-buggy/
- ^ http://www.babybuggy.org/index.php?section=about&page=letter
- ^ http://www.babybuggy.org/
- ^ http://www.babybuggy.org/index.php?section=about&page=partnerlist
- ^ http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10256
- ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2010/07/organic-onsies-and-baby-clothes-that-give-back-at-target.html
- ^ http://www.doitdelicious.com/cookbooks/deceptively_delicious/
- ^ http://www.harpercollinscatalogs.com/harper/516_1679_313835333431.htm
- ^ http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Deceptively-Delicious-Jessica-Seinfeld/?isbn=9780061558306
- ^ http://www.doitdelicious.com/cookbooks/double_delicious/
- ^ http://www.oprah.com/packages/jessica-seinfeld.html
- ^ http://www.doitdelicious.com/
- ^ http://www.doitdelicious.com/about
- ^ WEDDINGS; Jessica Sklar, Eric Nederlander - New York Times
- ^ Seinfeld, Sklar Tie Knot - Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- ^ http://www.flickr.com/photos/55514505@N03/5145852405/in/photostream
- ^ http://www.flickr.com/photos/55514505@N03/5146452358/in/photostream/
- ^ Seinfeld: And Baby Makes Three - Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- ^ Jerry Seinfeld's a Daddy Once More - Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- ^ A boy for Jerry - People - Entertainment - theage.com.au
- ^ Jerry Seinfeld & Wife Welcome Third Child - Birth, Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-10-21-seinfeld-book_N.htm
- ^ How to Get Junior to Eat His Veggies Turns Out to Be (Too) Common Knowledge - New York Times
- ^ How to Get Junior to Eat His Veggies Turns Out to Be (Too) Common Knowledge - New York Times
- ^ Seinfeld sued over 'three-named assassin' line
- ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/books/09/10/seinfeld.cookbook/index.html] While Lapine appealed the decision [Citation: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/04/26/2010-04-26_judge_shoots_down_sneaky_chef_missy_chase_lapines_case_against_jerry_seinfelds_w.html], it was again dismissed by the Federal Appeals Court on April 28, 2010. [Citation: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/04/28/2010-04-28_jerry_seinfelds_wife_jessica_wins_cookbook_lawsuit_by_the_sneaky_chef_author_mis.html
- ^ http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/judge_throws_out_defamation_suit_AsAQPxVtJMdW0tBckbmz9N#ixzz1F0eJLEXF
Categories:- 1971 births
- Living people
- People from Nassau County, New York
- University of Vermont alumni
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