Hedda Nussbaum wanted to be a writer. She graduated from New York’s Hunter College in the early 1970s and later became a public school teacher. In September 1974, she got a job with Random House, a Manhattan publisher. She was highly regarded and admired by co-workers. An executive at the company told the New York Times that “she was very attractive as a prospective employee.” Hedda was personable and had a wide range of interests. “She had the experience of working with kids…and she could write,” her boss once said.

Plants Do Amazing Things by Hedda Nussbaum (Mark Gado)

She wrote two children’s books, both of which were published by Random House. Plants Do Amazing Things was published in 1977 and was a science book explaining the workings and lives of plants. She had met Joel Steinberg two yeas earlier at a party. Part of the book’s dedication read, “And to Joel, my everyday inspiration.” Soon, they were seeing each other and became romantically involved. “I thought he was godlike,” she once said. Her second book, Animals Build Amazing Homes was published in 1979 and detailed how different animals built their homes in the wild. Both books were well received and remain in print.

Another of Hedda’s co-workers, Larry Weinberg, who was also an attorney, became friendly with Hedda and admired her ability to work with writers. “She was sensitive, extremely gentle and loving to a writer, enormously encouraging,” he later said to the press, “I was extremely taken with her as a friend.” Hedda had a promising future. But that rosy prospect ended when the abuse began.

Hedda Nussbaum’s second book: Animals Build Amazing Homes (Mark Gado)

According to Hedda, Steinberg first hit her in 1978. Much to her later regret, she chose to ignore the violence. “Battered woman” was a phrase largely unknown. The frequency and dimensions of spousal abuse were not a part of public discussion. Perhaps, in part, that’s why Hedda  Nussbaum chose to live with Steinberg’s attacks. She later said that she hoped that he would change or the beatings would stop. The sense of shame or embarrassment that an abused woman feels may have also prevented her from seeking treatment. As a result, the situation became worse, a lot worse.  “I saw her wheeling the baby (Lisa) down the hall,” a co-worker told reporters, “And the baby had a cut lip, and Hedda had on sunglasses and a bandage…everybody knew that she was a lady with a lot of trouble.” By 1981, the abuse was so severe that she was fired from her job because of repeated absences due to her physical condition.

Over the next few years, Hedda suffered through an ordeal that seems almost incredible in its viciousness and intensity. She sustained black eyes, broken bones, broken teeth, a fractured nose, burns, beatings and other acts which were detailed at length during Steinberg’s murder trial.  On November 2, 1987, when she was brought to the hospital, Dr. Neil Spiegel was the examining physician. “She was a 45-year-old woman that appeared much older than her stated age,” he said later. She suffered from anemia and was a “hunchback” due to calcium deficiency.  Spiegel testified that her injuries consisted of cuts on her lip, broken cheekbones, a broken nose, a large bruise on her right buttock, multiple broken ribs and ulcers on her legs so widespread that they were life threatening.

“She was physically as badly injured as any battered woman I have ever seen-short of those who were killed,” a social worker later told reporters.