Author Laurie Notaro returns to Phoenix for three events

Life has a way of giving author and humorist Laurie Notaro a lot of content to write about. The gods seem to have chosen her as their modern-day Odysseus with a bra, placing all kinds of interesting situations in her path to watch her navigate around and eventually write about. It’s an adventure so grand, Homer’s epic poem seems like a dime-store novel. 

Her skill for comically documenting these trials and tribulations has made her a New York Times bestselling author. The former Phoenician also used to write for Phoenix New Times, giving readers a little social commentary with an emphasis on the culinary scene. 

If the saying is true and it’s not the destination, but the journey, Notaro’s passport contains many stamps, which are characterized as a series of essays in her latest book “I’ve Got a New Complaint.” 

However, as much as Notaro’s lighter side shines through comedy, she has a darker side that’s steeped in a near-century-old Phoenix true crime mystery involving a young woman, dismembered bodies and luggage that dripped blood. Think of it like “Sex and the City” meets “Silence of the Lambs.”

Her name was Winnie Ruth Judd, and back in 1932 she was accused of shooting her two girlfriends and stuffing their bodies into a suitcase, one of them in pieces. 

Notaro’s true-crime fictional book “The Murderess” explores this sensational case. She’ll be in town for an Arizona Historical Society lecture at the Arizona Heritage Center on Oct 10, as well as a special tour on Oct. 17 on the anniversary of the crime. She’s also promoting “I’ve Got a New Complaint” on Oct. 18 at Crescent Ballroom. Phoenix New Times recently caught up with Notaro on what she’s been doing and where she’s going from here.

Phoenix New Times: I read that you moved from New York to Phoenix at one point in your life.
Laurie Notaro: I was born in Brooklyn, but it was when New York City was starting to get really shifty, like “Midnight Cowboy” era.  You know what I mean? Like, “Attica, Attica…” in “Serpico.” My dad was like, I’m not raising my kids here. They came to Arizona on a vacation in July. Of course it wasn’t as hot back then, believe it or not. But he came back and said, we’re moving to Arizona, and we were here in literally like eight weeks.

Wow. What year was that?
That was 1973, so I was 8. But I did have a New York accent when I arrived. when we moved to Phoenix, it was a small town. It was a very — you can’t say this anymore — but ‘Squaw Peak’ was two lanes: one going one way, one going the other way. And that’s where the 51 is now. They changed (the name) for obvious reasons. But, um, yeah, it was just a beautiful ride through the desert.

That’s quite an adjustment, but I guess if you were 8, you got used to Phoenix, but then you moved to Oregon?
I’ve been in Oregon for 20 years.

I wanted to sort of delve into your life a little bit because I feel as I’m researching and looking through some of your history, that you are all about life, and you are all about living experiences. I find some people have — I don’t know if this makes sense — more experiences than others. They get content from the things that they’ve done in life, and you’ve done a lot. And that’s because things happen to you, am I correct?
Well, I’m super bitchy, and I’m really clumsy, so that aids it a lot! Not very long ago, I had the accidental facelift. It was just flying by the seat of your pants. My husband’s surgeon said, “I need volunteers for this procedure,” and I’m like, “I’ll do it!” Ask no questions. Find out about it later when your face is bloody and red and looks like a rotisserie chicken! So I tend to get myself into a lot of trouble because I’m just like, “Yeah, let’s do it. Why not?” That is where it comes from. Probably a terminal lack of fear. I’ll do anything.

You’ll do anything, and you’ll write about anything.
I’ll write about anything because I need the material, but I don’t go out and do stupid things just to make material. Something stupid will generally happen, right? When I was at the (Arizona) Republic, I was a columnist, and I had a deadline every week. I had to write a humor column every week. So I really had to keep my eyes open and watch for the really weird things in life that were also kind of universal and relatable. That gave me a perspective. I’m not saying I have super X-ray eyes, but I see things that my husband doesn’t see, even when he’s standing right next to me.

I’m like, “Did you just see that?” And he goes, “What?” I’m like, “Oh my God! How did you not see a naked lady walking down the street? Because I just did!” That was when we first moved to (Oregon). Typical!

It looks like you have a lot of irons in the fire these days. You’re really busy. You’re going to be doing an event soon for your new book of essays titled “I’ve Got a New Complaint.”
Yeah. You know, book publishers don’t really send you on tours anymore. Thank God! I’m too old. When I first started in this business, I would be on the road for almost two months. I’d hit 30 cities and I’d come back exhausted, super mean and super fat! Because you just eat shit, right? So, this isn’t really a tour. I’m only doing Phoenix because Phoenix is my hometown. That’s where everything started. I owe a debt of gratitude to Phoenix. Seriously. The readers I’ve had there, we’ve grown up together since I was writing for the State Press at ASU around 1990. I know a lot of them, and they know me. Phoenix is the only place I go to anymore.

Tell me about the book. With modern times, there’s so much more to observe. I don’t think you’d ever run out of material if you ever wanted to start another weekly column.
Oh my God, I’d die of exhaustion! But here’s the thing, and I think you’ll relate to this.

Yesterday, I was 27. Today, I’m 60, but I’m still 27. I’m in this old, decrepit body that, when I’m naked, looks like a melted candle! But inside, every time I look in the mirror, I expect to see Laurie at 27, and I don’t. I see her. And lately, I’m starting to see him! I thought I was starting to look like my mom, but I’m not. I took an accidental selfie, and I thought it was my dad. The whole book is about grappling with this sudden realization that I’m 60. Sixty is a really big number. I’m really excited because I’m going to turn 61 in about three weeks.

Happy birthday!
That means I only have about another year before I can get early Social Security, and you bet I’m taking it! You bet I’m taking it! So that’s making me really, really happy.

I believe you’re doing another event, a tour, on Oct. 17, about the Winnie Ruth Judd murders, right?
The time that we’re doing this actual tour is at 6 o’clock. We’re going to be doing it from 6 to like 8. You’ll be there pretty much 95 years to the minute, which I think is significant. It gives me the chills, and I’ve been in that house a million times. I can explain the story and actually walk in the house through how, when and where she killed the girls in the house, what happened. We’re also going to go to the train station where she hopped on a train and went to L.A. 

So you believe Winnie is guilty?
Oh God, yes. Yeah, absolutely. When I went to the archives, I went there with my headspace being open, but really hoping that she was innocent, and all this was just, she was framed and all that stuff. I got all the files, and within two minutes, I had the autopsy reports of the girls, and she’s totally guilty. Ruth’s case is very, very complicated. I think we have elements now of bipolar, possibly postpartum depression, drugs, alcohol, cocaine. There were a variety of things that I think contributed to her really insane behavior, which had been escalating for about a month. This is not like really a one-off.

There’s a confession letter that was unearthed after being in the Tucson archives for 40 years. It just sat there. Robrt Pela, who worked for New Times, went and found it and then he wrote the story about it. It was that letter that made us think, we need to look deeper into this case. The evidence matches up to her confession letter and not to what she said in court about self-defense.

We’ve covered your life and your interest in this historical murder case. It’s certainly creepy and appropriate for the season. What’s next for you?
I lost my job, my full-time job in the DOGE layoffs, right? I worked at Stanford at the medical school. And so, a lot of our grants were cut, and I was sort of the fallout from that. So, I got to kind of semi-retire early, but now I’m just back to writing full time.

So, I’m doing publicity for “Complaint” and doing the reading on the 18th. And then I just finished a book called “Lady Motel,” which is a novel based on one of the columns in “Complaint.” It was really, really, really super fun. And that is done. I’m in the editing process, and now I’m starting a new book of columns, which is a continuation of “Complaint.” But yeah, it’s more of the same.

“The Murderess” book talk and film screenings are from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at Arizona Heritage Center, 1300 N. College Ave., Tempe. Notaro speaks at 3:45 p.m. Admission is $10. Notaro’s Winnie Ruth Judd Murder Sites Tour is from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, at various historical locations throughout Phoenix. The bus departure location and ticket prices have not been confirmed. The “I’ve Got a New Complaint” book reading and signing is at noon on Sunday, Oct. 18. at Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Avenue. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Admission is free.