[2] She was inspired to enter the field of publishing during high school when she heard a talk by Jennie Lindquist.
[1] She later moved to Sandpiper Press, and from there to Harper & Row, where she worked under Ursula Nordstrom.
[2] After taking time off from Harper & Row, she was quickly hired by Macmillan to head their children's book publishing division.
[3] She founded Greenwillow as an imprint of William Morrow (now HarperCollins), where she remained until her retirement in 2001.
[1] During Hirschman's career, she was responsible for the US publication of Watership Down, as well as works by children's authors Kevin Henkes and Jack Prelutsky.