ABOUT ANDES
Andes, named for the South American peaks, came into the world in 1969. Her parents, seeking asylum from the turmoil of the Vietnam War, found solace in Venezuela, later shifting to Colombia's verdant valleys to cultivate marijuana. As political tides turned, her mother, heeding the call of safety, brought Andes back to the United States.
They laid roots in Woodstock's culturally rich soil before transitioning to the Chelsea Hotel's hallowed halls in New York. Ultimately, the Bowery's vibrant tapestry of alternative creativity became their sanctuary. Raised amidst the 1970s' embrace of the avant-garde, Andes' youth was a collage of the remarkable and the radical slipping behind the scenes of 'Saturday Night Live,' shadowing drug circuits, igniting CBGB's stage with punk rock fervor, and emerging as a youthful icon within Ford Modeling.
As the gloss of youth dimmed, she faced the reality of her eccentric, cloistered knowledge. She was distant from those untouched by artifice and excess.
How does one navigate the ordinary moors when one's soul has been imprinted with the marks of rebellion and the avant-garde? This conundrum saw Andes traverse many traditional paths, from fashion to pedagogy, marketing to medicine. Despite the breadth of her experiences and the accolades of academia, contentment was always beyond reach.
A recent writing award gave Andes the courage to embark on a truthful journey and document her raw and untamed history.
Photo by Arenal Hruby
PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Andes Hruby worked as a reporter for Fortune Magazine during the Gulf War while studying at Bennington College. After completing her graduation, she wrote copy for leading fashion brands such as Armani, Calvin Klein, Claude Montana, Ungaro, and Valentino. With a decade-long career as a Ford Model, Hruby felt comfortable in the fashion industry. She pursued her MFA from Columbia University, won her first Pushcart award, and published mainstream fiction with the Dutton, Penguin & Putnam group. Motherhood introduced her to Scholastic Publishing, where she became a ghostwriter. Her
most popular work, The O.C.: Novelization: 'Twas The Night Before Chrismukkah’ was translated into 17 languages. Hruby has been a non-fiction contributor at Allure, Bend Living, Cosmopolitan, Concierge Q, Elle, Garden & Design, Glamour, Marie Claire, Wanderlust Media, Bend Magazine and 1859 (Oregon Magazine).
A chapter of her biography was featured by the Los Angeles Times in the 2017 article: “The Robert Mapplethorpe photo you haven't seen: The one he took of me.”
Additionally, “The Kitty” won the non-fiction memoir award judged by Roxane Gay for the 2020 Iowa Review contest.
