Irma Kurtz was born in New Jersey and grew up in New York. After graduating in English Literature from Barnard College, Columbia University in 1956, she moved to Europe, first to Paris and then to London where, in 1970, she joined the brand new Cosmopolitan as its first Agony Aunt.
Over her years in London, Irma Kurtz has contributed to virtually every national paper and is a frequent broadcaster on radio and TV. Recently she moved to Bloomsbury after twenty years in Soho, London, and describes herself as a 'last-time buyer'. She also keeps a small hiding-place in an unfashionable region of northern France. The mother of a son, Irma Kurtz became a grandmother in March 2005.