Mimi Lasker Ginott

Mimi was born in New York City to Dr. Alice Lasker Ginott Cohn, a psychologist, and Hon. Arthur Lasker, a WWII fighter pilot and attorney. A serious and gifted dancer, she studied at the School of American Ballet, appearing in many children’s roles with the New York City Ballet – including “The Nutcracker,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Don Quixote” – and performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. After her parents divorced in 1969, her mother married Dr. Haim Ginott, the renowned child psychologist and author of “Between Parent and Child,” and “Between Parent and Teenager.” She was the only child he ever helped raise and Mimi often said that “what he preached in his books he practiced at home and felt in his heart.” When diabetes prevented her from continuing ballet, she enrolled in Connecticut College, graduating cum laude in philosophy. After studying at the University of Michigan School of Journalism, she worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times where she covered school desegregation and court-ordered busing. She returned to New York to work on employment discrimination issues for the New York City Commission on Human Rights and then enrolled in New York University School of Law, receiving the Juris Doctor degree in 1987. From 1998-2001 she served as senior court attorney for NYS Family Court Justice Philip Segal, with whom she co-authored a decision which declared the New York State Adoption and Safe Families Act unconstitutional, allowing a loving aunt to adopt her nieces and keep their family intact. From 2001-2004 she served as principal court attorney for NYS Supreme Court Justice Louise Gruner Gans. Later, as a solo practitioner focusing primarily on divorce, she became known as an attorney who worked tirelessly for, and was devoted to, her clients. In recent years, while working as a contract attorney, she was also certified as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach.

Throughout her life, Mimi built on the challenges she experienced living with diabetes to help others deal with their hardships. She was an active member of the AA community, cherishing the friendships she made there and the support she received and gave. She was known for her infectious smile, a laugh that would fill up a room, and a charismatic spirit that complemented her generous heart. More than anything else, she cherished, and was very proud of, her beloved children, Allegra Kaough and Eli Kaough. Her marriage to their father, George Kaough, ended in divorce. She is survived by her children and her sister, Roz Lasker, MD, who became an endocrinologist because of Mimi’s disease. Mimi wished to be memorialized in the form of gifts to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (https://www.jdrf.org/donate)