Topic: Candace Bushnell

Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author and columnist based in New York City. She is best known for writing a column that was anthologized in a book, Sex and the City, which in turn became the basis for a popular television series and its subsequent film adaptations.

Bushnell was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut. While attending high school there, she was accompanied to her senior prom by Mike O'Meara, now a nationally syndicated radio host. She attended Rice University and New York University in the 1970s, and became known in New York City as a socialite and party-goer. She often frequented Studio 54. In 2002, Bushnell married Charles Askegard, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. The couple lives in Manhattan.

At age 19, Bushnell moved to New York City and sold a children’s story to Simon & Schuster, which was never published. She continued writing and worked as a freelance journalist for various publications, struggling to make ends meet for many years. Bushnell began writing for the New York Observer in 1993. She created a humorous column for the paper, which appeared from 1994 through 1996. Called "Sex and the City," the column was based on her own personal dating experiences and those of her friends. In 1997, Bushnell's columns were published in an anthology, also called Sex and the City, and soon after became the basis for the popular HBO television series sharing the same name. The series aired from 1998 through 2004, and starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, a sex and lifestyles columnist partaking in and enjoying New York City nightlife, a character which Bushnell has stated was her alter ego. The series is now in syndication and was adapted for and made into two motion pictures, released in 2008 and 2010.