Dutchess County Executive's Arts Awards 2023

Jodé Millman is a life-long resident of Poughkeepsie, which usually serves as the setting for her popular crime fiction novels. The first three installment of her true-crime inspired “Queen City Crimes” series, The Empty Kayak, Hooker Avenue, and The Midnight Call, have won numerous awards including: The Independent Press, Independent Publishers, American Fiction, and Clue Awards. Most of Jodé’s books are loosely based on a true crime. “It’s not necessarily the crime that’s the heart of the story, but the ripple effect from a crime. It’s always about the people and the characters and the impact of that particular crime on the survivors,” she says.

Jodé is thrilled to receive the 2023 Dutchess County Arts Award for an Individual Artist.

Now mostly retired after decades as a lawyer in New York, Jodé is also a reviewer for Booktrib.com, and the host/producer of The Backstage with the Bardavon podcast. Jose also wrote Seats: New York, a guide to snagging the best (and most affordable) seats to Broadway shows and other theaters. Merging her passion for the arts and law, she created The Writer’s Law School, an educational program designed to inform writers and artists about their legal rights. She has presented these concepts to local arts organizations, libraries, and colleges.

Her philanthropic interests have guided her to lead her family’s foundation, The Millman Harris Romano Foundation, which focuses on supporting arts, education and human services in the local community. “This is something we started in 2001 after my father passed away. Since then we’ve given away about half a million dollars to local charities and organizations,” she says. Jodé refers to the ‘Movies Under the Walkway’ (outdoor movies shown under the Walkway Over the Hudson) as the foundation’s ‘jewel in our crown.’ Those nights are really something special.”