I've written for the country's top news outlets and magazines, and I'm a nonfiction author. I've ghost-written best-selling nonfiction books, and I work as a content strategist. Five-star editor.
In memory of Leslie Ruth Guttman
Journalist and author Leslie Guttman, whose puckish wit and graceful, empathetic feature writing enlivened the pages of The San Francisco Chronicle for 18 years—and publications and radio stations across the country thereafter—died March 14 in her native Kentucky after months of suffering from a rare combination of a medication reaction and a previously undiagnosed medical condition. She was 57.
From OZY: Can "Astronaut Thinking" Heal Our Broken World?
Outer space philosopher Frank White has spent 34 years trying to spread the message of the "Overview Effect" and humanity's interconnectedness. Finally, people are starting to listen.
From OZY: A Space Anthropologist Warns: Inequality Gets Worse on Mars
Outer space anthropologist Savannah Mandel says one of the most important things about settling our galactic neighborhood is to be aware of bias and privilege. And above all, to value our pale blue dot.
From the Washington Post: The first black female White House reporter had to pawn her watch every week just to eat
It was rare to be a woman or African American covering the White House in the 1940s, and Alice Dunnigan was both. Here is her story.
From the Washington Post: The low-tech legend of thoroughbred country
Radio host is an "84-year-old Ferris Bueller."
From NPR: To save these pigs, Kentucky farmer says we have to eat them
Think of Charlotte's Web. Then reverse the story.
From Men's Journal: The NFL’s Opera Star
How Ta'u Pupu'a made his dreams come true not once, but twice.
From NPR: A Bible Belt church where dogs are welcome
It's not that people are bringing their dogs to church. It's that dogs are bringing their people to church.
From the New York Times: Equine ER by Leslie Guttman
Leslie reflects on her nonfiction book about a year inside the country's top horse hospital. Equine ER was published by veteran equestrian publisher Eclipse Press. New York Times best-selling author Jon Katz says, “Equine ER is a wonderful book, wrenching, uplifting, and a powerful window into the great love, empathy, and connection humans have for horses and other animals. It is an emotional thriller, really a rollercoaster, as dramatic and well-paced as it is well-written and brilliantly observed."
From Medium: How the Empire Diner was born
The inside story on how Leslie's grandfather started what became the most famous diner in Manhattan.
From the San Francisco Chronicle: A triumph over adversity in Oakland
Maurice Williams, 19, future U.S. congressman if he has it his way, says life is a 24-hour job, and after growing up in two of the Bay Area's forgotten neighborhoods, East and West Oakland, he craves a life of success and stability—and says nothing will stop him from getting it.
From Marketplace (public radio): Racehorses get advanced medical care
The story of Arson Squad, a thoroughbred who was saved at one of the most elite horse hospitals in the country.
From WEKU-FM public radio: How culinary school transformed a crack addict
“Have you ever asked yourself what’s the difference between someone who’s homeless and someone who’s not? A lot of times the difference is family or support. So the culinary program provided that kind of family.”
From the San Francisco Chronicle: Guarding against biological weapons: Ex-Soviet germ warrior urges biodefense funds
Interview with Ken Alibek, He developed biological weapons for the Soviet Union for almost 20 years. In his four years as first deputy director of Biopreparat, the civilian branch of the USSR's secret biological warfare program, the scientist was responsible for more than 30,000 employees in 40 facilities. He defected in 1992 and cooperated in extensive debriefings. His personal and professional goals are now to help end the threat of biological war.