Maura Stone

Maura Stone (born 1955) is a contemporary American author. With the publication of her first novel, "Five-Star FLEECING" in December 2009, she was described as a "promising new star in the literary world" by the Queens Gazette on 6/2/2010. The book was reviewed on 2/8/2010 by renowned literary critic Harriet Klausner who labeled it as a "superb scathing satire of the hospitality business." It was also reviewed by the Midwest Book Review on 4/3/2010 as a "humorous delve into the underworld of class, highly recommended." Five-Star FLEECING is the winner of the 2011 National Indie Excellence Award in the category of comedy.
Miss Stone's book is loosely based on true events through her occupation in one of Manhattan's high-rise luxury hotels. Through her firsthand experience of the seedy, underhanded and often illegal activities, she exposed the realities of the hospitality industry, albeit with a humorous twist. Many in the industry have self-identified with the characters in her book, and have lashed out at her in their paranoia.
Educated first in France (L'Universite de Poitiers en La Rochelle and La Sorbonne, Paris), she went on to earn a BA from SUNY at Stony Brook and an MBA in international marketing at Pace University. Maura was a commercial banker who operated a credit/credit risk consulting company for over ten years with some of the top financial institutions as her clients. During this time, she took a year off to work in the hospitality industry, the subject matter of her first book. Miss Stone is also fluent in French. Maura contributes her sense of humour in part to her third cousin Sam Levenson who was a popular American humorist, writer, television host and journalist. She spent much of her childhood and adult summers with him at her family's home in the Catskills, maintaining a close relationship with him until his death in 1980.
On 2/4/2010 Maura was one of the featured news stories and was interviewed by Brad Driver and Lisa G of the Howard Stern Show due to the many references in her book to Mr. Stern. (audio clip)
Since her first novel was released, Maura has been busy on her book tour and has continued writing. She forecasts her second literary contribution to be released during the first half of 2011.