Josie Lynn Shalhoub: Writer, Producer, Family, and New Book
Have you seen the name Josie Lynn Shalhoub and wondered who she is? Many people first know her as Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams’ daughter, but her own work tells a much bigger story.
She works under the name Josie Adams, and she is a writer, producer, and founder. Food has also played a big role in her career, and she has worked in food media, written essays and stories, and built projects for books, audio, film, TV, and theater.
In 2026, she is getting fresh attention for a new book with her father, and the book is about food, family, memory, and the Shalhoub family’s long summer reunions. Her path shows how a person can grow up near Hollywood and still build a career that feels very much her own.
Quick Bio
| Name | Josie Lynn Shalhoub |
| Professional Name | Josie Adams |
| Work | Writer, producer, founder |
| Parents | Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub |
| Sister | Sophie Shalhoub |
| Education | BFA in Theatre, California Institute of the Arts |
| Food Media Work | Bon Appétit |
| Company | House of Water |
| Current Home | New Jersey |
| Children | Two |
| 2026 Book | We Thought They’d Never Leave: Musings on Food & Family |
Who Is Josie Lynn Shalhoub?
Josie Lynn Shalhoub is a writer and producer, and in her work, she uses the name Josie Adams. She is also the daughter of actors Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams.
She did not make acting the center of her career, so she moved toward writing, food, audio, and creative work behind the scenes. Her essays and stories have appeared in places such as McSweeney’s and Bon Appétit, and she has also written for Audible.
In 2025, she started House of Water, and the company works on stories for film, TV, books, audio, and theater. This gave her a place to bring many parts of her career together.
Her Family Story Began With Adoption
Brooke Adams adopted Josie as a baby before she married Tony Shalhoub, and People reported in 2026 that Brooke adopted her in 1988. Brooke and Tony married in 1992, and Tony then became Josie’s father through adoption.
The family later adopted another daughter, Sophie.
Family now sits at the heart of much of Josie’s work, and she writes about food, parents, grandparents, old stories, and shared meals. Her new book with Tony grows from those same themes.
Her publisher says she was adopted at birth from Omaha, Nebraska, and she was then raised in Los Angeles. Those two places are part of a life that later stretched into New York food media, New Jersey family life, and the Shalhoub family’s yearly trips to Wisconsin.
School Helped Shape Her Creative Path
Josie Adams earned a BFA in Theatre from the California Institute of the Arts, and her official bio also says she completed more than one culinary degree.
That mix fits her career well.
Theater teaches people how stories work, and it also teaches teamwork, timing, voice, and structure. Food training gave her another way to tell stories, and it also gave her real skill in a field that later became part of her writing.
Food was not just a family interest for her, and it became part of her work.
From Murray’s Cheese to Bon Appétit
Before Bon Appétit, Josie worked at Murray’s Cheese in New York City, and she sold cheese and later taught cheese pairing classes.
She then joined Bon Appétit as an integrated editorial assistant.
According to Bon Appétit, her job included writing, editing, and research, and she also wrote for the magazine’s website. That gave her hands-on work inside a major food brand.
Her author page shows that she published under the name Josie Adams, and one 2015 piece focused on a simple farro salad she made from food she already had at home.
That kind of story may sound small, but it says a lot about her style. Food is useful in the moment, and it can also hold a story about home, taste, routine, and memory.
Writing Grew Into Her Main Work
Over time, writing became a bigger part of Josie Lynn Shalhoub’s career.
Her own website calls her an author and producer, and her work has appeared in McSweeney’s and Bon Appétit. She has also written audio stories for Audible.
Miami Book Fair says she has taken part in the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Yale Writers’ Conference. It also notes that she has worked as a copywriter across tech, online retail, and publishing.
That gives her career more depth than a simple “celebrity daughter” label.
She has spent years working with words, while some of that work has been in food media. Some has been in audio, while some now sits inside books and larger story projects.
House of Water Gave Her Work a New Home
Josie founded House of Water in 2025.
The company says it is female-forward, and it looks for unusual stories that can create change. It develops work for film, TV, books, audio, and theater.
Josie serves as its founder and president.
This step changed her role, and she was no longer only writing for other outlets. She was also helping find ideas, shape projects, and move them toward the right form.
A story can begin as a book, and it may later become a show, podcast, film, or stage work. House of Water is built for that kind of flexible path.
It also shows where her career is heading now, and she is not tied to one type of media.
The New Book With Tony Shalhoub
The biggest new part of Josie Lynn Shalhoub’s work in 2026 is We Thought They’d Never Leave: Musings on Food & Family.
She wrote it with Tony Shalhoub, and Simon & Schuster lists the U.S. release date as October 27, 2026.
According to People, the project first started as a family cookbook, and then the idea grew. Recipes led to old stories, and those stories led to family memories. The final book became much closer to a memoir.
The book centers on the Shalhoub family’s summer reunion in Door County, Wisconsin, and the family has kept the tradition going for more than 50 years.
Each reunion brings many relatives together, and they cook, eat, tell stories, play games, and spend time with several generations of the family.
The book uses those gatherings to explore a larger story, and it looks at Tony’s Lebanese-American family roots and the habits that hold families together.
Food is a major part of the book, but food is not the only point. Meals are used as a way into memory.
Josie told People that she wanted to save the family stories before they slipped away, which gives the book real weight. It turns old meals and funny family moments into a record that younger family members can keep.
Food Connects Her Past and Present
Food has followed Josie through many stages of her life.
She worked with cheese, and she worked at Bon Appétit. She trained in cooking, and she wrote about food. Now she has helped write a family book built around meals and memory.
The same theme also appears in Tony Shalhoub’s CNN series Breaking Bread.
The series uses bread to explore people, culture, work, and family history, and Josie appeared with her father in the show.
The Los Angeles Times reported on a Marseille episode in which Tony looked into part of his father’s trip from Lebanon to the United States, and Josie was there with him.
That scene brings several parts of her work together, with food at the center. There is travel, along with family history. There is also the work of turning memory into a story that other people can follow.
Why She Uses the Name Josie Adams
Readers often search for Josie Lynn Shalhoub, but most of her current work is published under Josie Adams.
Her website uses Josie Adams, so does her publisher. Bon Appétit uses the same name, while House of Water does too.
For readers, that is useful to know, so a search for only one version of her name can miss much of her work.
Her publisher also says she lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.
Her public pages stay focused on her work, and they do not turn her home life into a show. That gives her a clear line between a public career and a private family life.
Working With Her Father Changed the Family Story
Tony Shalhoub is known around the world as an actor, but the book gave father and daughter a new way to work together.
People reported that Tony praised Josie for helping turn years of recipes and stories into one clear book.
Josie also said the work helped her see her father in a new way, and she was not only looking at him as her dad. She was also seeing him as a son, brother, and member of a very large family.
That is one of the strongest ideas in the project.
Children often know their parents from one point of view, but family stories can open another door. They can show who a parent was before marriage, children, work, or fame.
For a writer, that kind of material is rich, and it is personal, but it can also feel familiar to many readers.
Her Career Is More Than a Famous Last Name
Josie Lynn Shalhoub grew up close to actors and film sets, but her own work took another route.
She learned food from the inside, and she worked in publishing. She wrote and edited, and she built audio stories. She trained as a writer, and she then moved into production and started a company.
Each step added something new.
Bon Appétit gave her newsroom and food media work, and culinary study gave her skill with food. Writing programs helped her craft, while House of Water gave her a wider role in making projects.
The new book brings many of those pieces together.
That makes the answer to “What does Tony Shalhoub’s daughter do?” much clearer, and she is a working writer, producer, and founder with projects of her own.
Josie Lynn Shalhoub in 2026
As of October 2026, Josie’s career is moving through a busy period.
House of Water is building work in several forms, and she has appeared in Breaking Bread. Her book with Tony is due in the United States on October 27.
Her own website also lists a future illustrated children’s book called Ollie’s Marvelous Mind, and it says the book is planned for 2028.
That gives readers a clear picture of where her work stands now, and she is still tied to family stories, but she is also building a wider creative career.
Final Thoughts
Josie Lynn Shalhoub has built a life that is close to her family roots but not trapped by them.
She grew up around actors, and she studied theater. She trained in food, and she worked in a major food magazine. Then she moved deeper into writing and production.
Her 2026 book with Tony Shalhoub brings those parts together in a warm way, and food becomes a path into memory. Writing keeps family stories alive, while production gives her more ways to build new work.
People may first search her name because of Tony Shalhoub. But the stronger answer is about Josie Adams herself. She has a real career in writing and production, and that career is still growing.
For another easy-to-read profile about a creative woman with her own career beside a famous partner, visit LakewoodScoop.co.uk and read our profile of Nia Renee Hill.