She was born Anne Rebe Wertheim, in
Cos Cob,
Connecticut, the daughter of Alma (née Morgenthau) and banker
Maurice Wertheim. Her grandfather was ambassador
Henry Morgenthau Sr. Her sisters were Josephine Wertheim Pomerance (mother of climate activist
Rafe Pomerance) and
Barbara W. Tuchman (mother of
Jessica Mathews). In 1935, she graduated with a B.A. from
Smith College and then earned a M.A. in Social Work from
Columbia University. She began her career as a writer
WNYC, a radio station in New York and later worked as a television critic for
The Nation. She then wrote for various publications including ''
McCall's and Good Housekeeping. In 1964, she wrote Stepchild in the Family: A View of Children in Remarriage
based on her experiences as a stepchild and as a stepparent. In 1973, No Island Is an Island: The Ordeal of Martha's Vineyard'' about sprawl, traffic jams, and pollution at Martha's Vineyard. In 1978, she wrote
The Thin Edge: Coast and Man in Crisis about the poor condition of dunes and beaches. In 1984, she wrote, ''Neptune's Revenge: The Ocean of Tomorrow'', was a critique of overfishing, oil spills, radioactive waste, and toxins. ==Books==