Just how big is the universe? We all just might discover a new favorite planet: Planet Word! With its mission to “show, don’t tell”, this museum inspires a love of words through an immersive and entertaining experience. ANN FRIEDMAN, the founder and CEO of Planet Word was In Conversation with New York Book Forum President JANET MCCARTHY GRIMM on October 20, 2021. 

Ann B. Friedman is the Founder and CEO of Planet Word and the developer behind the restoration of the Franklin School, the museum’s home. She was a beginning reading and writing teacher in the Montgomery County Public Schools for 9 years. From 2010-2016, she served as the Chair of the Board of the SEED Foundation, the parent body of the nation's only public, inner-city, college-prep boarding schools, where she currently serves as Vice Chair. Ms. Friedman is a new director of the American Alliance of Museums and a founding board member of the Downtown DC Foundation. She is on the board of the Aspen Music Festival and School and serves on the board of the National Symphony Orchestra. She is on the Advisory Board of Ascend, the Aspen Institute's program that promotes a two-generation approach to ending family financial insecurity. She and her husband, Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times foreign affairs columnist, live in Bethesda, MD, and have two adult daughters.

Watch the recording of this virtual program on YouTube here.