Candace Bushnell Bio
Candace Bushnell, born December 1, 1958, is an American author, journalist, and television producer whose observations on urban dating and social life have shaped popular culture for more than two decades. Best known for creating the column and book Sex and the City, she built a literary and television brand that began as a weekly newspaper feature and grew into a global franchise. Over the years, Bushnell has written multiple New York Times bestselling novels, produced television adaptations of her work, and remained a frequent commentator on modern relationships.
Bushnell first gained national attention in the mid-1990s through her column in The New York Observer, which she wrote from 1994 to 1996. That column became the basis for the HBO series Sex and the City, the two theatrical films that followed, and the recent sequel series And Just Like That… She has also authored novels such as Four Blondes, Trading Up, Lipstick Jungle, One Fifth Avenue, The Carrie Diaries, and Summer and the City, several of which have been adapted for the screen.
Early Life and Background
Candace Bushnell was born on December 1, 1958, in Glastonbury, Connecticut, to Calvin L. Bushnell and Camille Salonia. She grew up in a household with deep American roots: her paternal ancestors include Francis Bushnell, a signatory of the Guilford Covenant who emigrated from Thatcham, Berkshire, England, in 1639. Her mother was of Italian descent, giving Bushnell a blended cultural background that she has occasionally referenced in interviews and writing.
Her father, Calvin L. Bushnell, was one of the inventors of the air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell used in the Apollo space missions in the 1960s, an accomplishment that placed the family within reach of the nation’s space program history. Bushnell attended Glastonbury High School in her hometown, where she was active in school social life, including being accompanied to her senior prom by Mike O’Meara, who would later become a nationally syndicated radio host.
After high school, Bushnell enrolled at Rice University in Texas and later continued her studies at New York University. During this period she also discovered the cultural energy of New York City, which would later become the setting of nearly all her major work. Her education at these two institutions, combined with her early exposure to the worlds of science and the arts through her family, helped shape her wide-ranging curiosity.
Path to Writer
Bushnell moved to New York City at nineteen, just as the city’s nightlife scene was transforming. While there, she sold a children’s story to Simon & Schuster, although the book was never published. The experience was enough to convince her that writing could be a career, and she began working as a freelance journalist for various publications. For several years she struggled financially, but she kept writing, contributing features and essays to magazines and newspapers.
In 1993, she joined The New York Observer as a staff writer, which gave her a steady outlet and a Manhattan audience for her observations about dating, friendship, and city life. Two years later, in 1995, she met publishing executive Ron Galotti, who became a major source of inspiration. Her relationship with Galotti, and the broader dating scene she covered, would inform the characters and tone of her most famous column.
Her early exposure to New York’s social scene, including nights at the famous Studio 54 in the late 1970s, provided a deep reserve of material. Bushnell turned those experiences into the witty, observational style that defined her writing and caught the attention of editors, readers, and ultimately television producers.
Candace Bushnell Career
Early Career (1993–1997)
Bushnell began writing for The New York Observer in 1993 and soon created the column “Sex and the City,” which ran from 1994 to 1996. The column’s sharp, humorous take on dating in New York quickly built a loyal readership and was eventually collected into an anthology. Published in 1997 and also called Sex and the City, the book became a bestseller and attracted the attention of cable television executives looking for fresh material.
During these years, Bushnell also continued freelance work for other publications, sharpening her voice as a journalist and essayist. The success of her Observer column marked her transition from staff writer to nationally recognized commentator on urban romance.
Breakthrough (1998–2010)
In 1998, the column was adapted into the HBO series Sex and the City, which ran until 2004 and starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, a character Bushnell has described as her alter ego. The series became a cultural phenomenon, entering syndication around the world and inspiring the feature films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010). It also established Bushnell as a leading voice on contemporary urban life.
Bushnell followed the success of Sex and the City with a string of bestselling novels. Four Blondes appeared in 2001, Trading Up in 2003, Lipstick Jungle in 2005, and One Fifth Avenue in 2008, each reaching the upper reaches of the New York Times bestseller list. The 2005 novel Lipstick Jungle was adapted for television and aired on NBC in 2008, starring Brooke Shields and running for 20 episodes.
In 2008, HarperCollins contracted her to write two young-adult novels about Carrie Bradshaw’s high school years. The first, The Carrie Diaries, was published in 2010 and became a number-one New York Times bestseller, and the second, Summer and the City, was released in 2011. The Carrie Diaries was later adapted into a CW series that ran from 2013 to 2014.
Notable Works and Milestones
Among Bushnell’s signature achievements are the original Sex and the City column and book, the long-running HBO series of the same name, the two theatrical films, the Carrie Diaries young-adult novels, and the more recent sequel series And Just Like That…, which premiered in 2021 and was announced in place of a planned third film. Her work has consistently blended literary fiction with television production, making her both a chronicler and a builder of modern urban mythology.
Candace Bushnell Award Nominations
Public records of formal award nominations for Candace Bushnell are limited. Throughout her career, she has been recognized primarily through her wins, including the Matrix Award for books in 2006 and the Albert Einstein Spirit of Achievement Award, rather than through a long list of nominations. As such, a detailed list of nominations cannot be presented with full confidence and is omitted from this page.
Candace Bushnell Awards Won
Candace Bushnell has received recognition for her contributions to literature, journalism, and media. In 2006, she won the Matrix Award for books, honoring women who excel in communications. She has also been named a recipient of the Albert Einstein Spirit of Achievement Award, which celebrates notable accomplishments across a variety of fields.
Candace Bushnell Family
Candace Bushnell is the daughter of Calvin L. Bushnell, an engineer who was one of the inventors of the air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell used in the Apollo space missions in the 1960s, and Camille Salonia, whose family was of Italian descent. She has a sister, Lolly, who also dated Mike O’Meara, a friend of Candace from their time at Glastonbury High School. Her father’s ancestry traces back to Francis Bushnell, a signatory of the Guilford Covenant who emigrated from Thatcham, Berkshire, England, in 1639.
Personal Life
Bushnell was married to Charles Askegard, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet ten years her junior, from 2002 to 2012, although some reports indicate the divorce was finalized in 2011. The couple met only eight weeks before their wedding, a detail Bushnell has discussed in interviews. Following the divorce, she described the experience to The Guardian as disorienting, noting that being single again made her feel excluded from certain social circles.
Bushnell has owned several homes over the years, including a co-op in Greenwich Village until 2015 and a historic Victorian farmhouse in Roxbury, Connecticut, from 2005 to 2016. In 2016, she purchased a co-op on East 74th Street in Manhattan, where she has lived since. She has no publicly confirmed children.