In her early twenties, she wrote a series of prize-winning profiles of such Hollywood luminaries as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, and Audrey Hepburn. Her first assignments as a journalist were in the art field, where she simultaneously amassed an art collection comprising mostly contemporary American painting and sculpture. She received a Bachelor of Arts in 1953 from Wellesley College, where she majored in English, after which she took art courses at Columbia University. Goldsmith was born Barbara Joan Lubun in New York City in 1931. The Financial Times declared that 'Goldsmith is leaving a legacy-one of art, literature, friends, family and philanthropy.' Early life She has three children and six grandchildren.

In November 2008, Goldsmith sus elected a “Living Landmark” by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. In 2009, she received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit medal from the Republic of Poland. She was awarded four honoris causa doctorates, and numerous awards been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, two Presidential Commissions, and the New York State Council on the Arts and honored by The New York Public Library Literary Lions as well as the Literacy Volunteers, the American Academy in Rome, The Authors Guild, and the Guild Hall Academy of Arts for Lifetime Achievement. She received critical and popular acclaim for her best-selling books, essays, articles, and her philanthropic work.

Barbara Goldsmith (– June 26, 2016) was an American author, journalist, and philanthropist.

Obsessive Genius by Barbara Goldsmith