Catie Marron

Catie Marron, whose career has encompassed investment banking, magazine journalism, and public service, is currently chairman of the board of directors of Friends of the High Line; a trustee of the New York Public Library, where she was chairman of the board for seven years; and a contributing editor to Vogue.The idea for both her books, CITY PARKS and CITY SQUARES, began on trips in Europe. When she was 23, she went to Paris for the first time and her fondest memory was a visit to the Luxembourg Gardens. Since then, she’s noticed that wherever she is, she gravitates to the park. After realizing that there were very few books on public parks, she created and edited CITY PARKS Public Places, Private Thoughts.CITY SQUARES came about because of a visit to Rome. Marron stayed near the Piazza del Popolo at the same time as the mass uprising in Kiev’s main square. The stark contrast between the squares was fascinating. After some research, she realized that city squares are the heart, center and pulse of a city. As Michael Kimmelman says, “if there’s one essential urban space, it is the square.”