Linda Leuzzi is an award-winning journalist, editor and author of three adult fiction books and 8 non-fiction books for young adults, two of which garnered New York Public Library citations. Stories for the Long Island Advance, Suffolk County News, and Islip Bulletin have won 19 New York Press Association Awards including First Place mentions for In-Depth Reporting, Spot News, Coverage of the Arts, Spot News Photo and Sports Feature. She’s won two Third Place Sharon Fullmer Awards for Community Leadership for team coverage of LGBTQ+ issues. Her many celebrity interviews have included Isabella Rossellini, Chazz Palminteri, Bernadette Peters, Joe Piscopo, Sally Struthers, Sara Jean Ford, Melissa Errico, and choreographer Randy Skinner as well as Nobel Prize and MacArthur Award scientists. Community awards include Woman of Diversity for the Of Colors Black History celebration, Brookhaven Town’s Outstanding Service in Media/Communications and a Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts honor for her stories. Locally, the Bayport-Blue Point Library recognized Linda for her in-depth articles on the library’s purchase and renovation of the former St. Ursula Center. After stepping aside as editor for the Long Island Advance, Linda subs when needed and writes regularly for them and now also the Tide of the Moriches and the Fire Island News. Linda is a Sayville Rotarian, the recipient of a Paul Harris Award, and has hosted seven Rotary exchange students with her husband, Vincent. A lover of British series, foreign films, Turner Classic Movies, PBS, Broadway, Gateway musicals and Patchogue Theatre concerts, as well as European travel to Paris, London, Prague and other gorgeous places. An aspect of Linda is an ebullient enthusiasm for her work and the communities she covers. Linda has a St. John’s University journalism degree and is always thinking of stories walking with her rescue dog Tina.
Linda’s new book, “My Year With the Italian Girl,” is available on Amazon.