Eric Schlosser
Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, such as in his books Fast Food Nation (2001), Reefer Madness (2003), and Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (2013).
Eric Schlosser | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eric Matthew Schlosser[1] August 17, 1959 Manhattan, New York |
| Occupation | Investigative writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Princeton University Oriel College, Oxford |
| Period | 1995—present |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Notable works | Fast Food Nation (2001) Reefer Madness (2003) Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (2013) |
| Spouse | Shauna Jean Redford (m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Herbert Schlosser (father) |
Biography
Schlosser was born in New York City, New York; he spent his childhood there and in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Judith (née Gassner) and Herbert Schlosser, a former Wall Street lawyer who turned to broadcasting later in his career, eventually becoming president of NBC in 1974 and later becoming a vice president of RCA.[1][3][4]
Schlosser graduated with an A.B. in history from Princeton University in 1982 after completing a 148-page-long senior thesis titled "Academic Freedom during the McCarthy Era: Anti-Communism, Conformity and Princeton."[5] He then earned a graduate degree in British Imperial History from Oriel College, University of Oxford. He tried playwriting, writing two plays, Americans (1985) and We the People (2007). He is married to Shauna Redford, daughter of actor Robert Redford.[6]
Journalism and books
Schlosser started his career as a journalist with The Atlantic Monthly in Boston, Massachusetts. He quickly gained recognition for his investigative pieces, earning two awards within two years of joining the staff: he won the National Magazine Award for his reporting in his two-part series "Reefer Madness" and "Marijuana and the Law" (The Atlantic Monthly, August and September 1994), and he won the Sidney Hillman Foundation award for his article "In the Strawberry Fields" (The Atlantic Monthly, November 19, 1995).[citation needed]
| External video | |
|---|---|
| Presentation by Schlosser on Fast Food Nation at the 92nd Street Y, May 31, 2001, C-SPAN | |
| Booknotes interview with Schlosser on Reefer Madness, June 15, 2003, C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Schlosser on Reefer Madness at the Miami Book Fair, November 9, 2003, C-SPAN | |
| After Words interview with Schlosser on Command and Control, September 27, 2013, C-SPAN |
Schlosser wrote Fast Food Nation (2001), an exposé on the unsanitary and discriminatory practices of the fast food industry. Fast Food Nation evolved from a two-part article in Rolling Stone. Schlosser helped adapt his book into a 2006 film directed by Richard Linklater. The film opened November 19, 2006. Chew On This (2006), co-written with Charles Wilson, is an adaptation of the book for younger readers. Fortune called Fast Food Nation the "Best Business Book of the Year" in 2001.[7]
His 2003 book Reefer Madness discusses the history and current trade of marijuana, the use of migrant workers in California strawberry fields, and the American pornography industry and its history. William F. Buckley gave Reefer Madness a favorable review,[8] as did BusinessWeek.[9]
Schlosser's book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety was published in September 2013.[10] It focuses on the 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion, a non-nuclear explosion of a Titan II missile near Damascus, AR.[11][12] The New Yorker's Louis Menand called it "excellent" and "hair-raising" and said that "Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written."[13] It was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for History.[14]
He has been working on a book on the American prison system, which has been over 10 years in the making.[15]
Films
Schlosser appeared in an interview for the DVD of Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, having a one-on-one discussion with the filmmaker about the fast-food industry. He did not appear in the film itself. He was interviewed by Franny Armstrong in 2005 and is a feature interviewee in her film McLibel. He co-produced Food, Inc. (2008), with Robert Kenner.
Schlosser also served as co-executive producer on the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. In 2014, he was an executive producer of the farmworker documentary Food Chains,[16] a credit he shared with Eva Longoria. They both won a James Beard Foundation Award for their roles.[17] Schlosser also shared a director credit for the multimedia installation entitled "the bomb", an experimental film about nuclear weaponry coupled with a live score by The Acid.[18]
References
- ^ a b c "Shuana Redford Married In Utah". The New York Times. October 6, 1985. from the original on January 21, 2018.
- ^ "Eugene Register-Guard – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ Seabrook, John (October 22, 2001). "Dept. of Second Chances: A Mothballed Mural". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ "Felicia Warburg Becomes Fiancee; Bennington Alumna Engaged to Robert William Sarnoff, Son of R.C.A. Head Strauss". The New York Times. April 27, 1950.
- ^ Schlosser, Eric Matthew (1981). "Academic Freedom during the McCarthy Era: Anti-Communism, Conformity and Princeton".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "SHUANA REDFORD MARRIED IN UTAH". The New York Times. October 6, 1985.
- ^ Kahn, Jeremy (December 24, 2001). "Best & Worst 2001 Honest CEOs. Harebrained ad campaigns. Appalling outfits. They've all earned a place on our year-end list". money.cnn.com. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ "Reefer Madness". National Review. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ . BusinessWeek. May 19, 2003. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ Greta Johnsen. "Five Books To Read This Fall".
- ^ Mead, Walter Russell (September 12, 2013). "Atomic Gaffes: Command and Control by Eric Schlosser". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
- ^ McKinley, James (October 5, 2012). "Fast Food Nation Author Will Return With Book on Nuclear Weapons". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ Menand, Louis (September 30, 2013). "Nukes of Hazard". The New Yorker.
- ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Falconer, Morgan, "Eric Schlosser on why he's giving up food", Sunday Times (London), February 5, 2010
- ^ Tara Duggan, Documentary shows how those who pick our food get a raw deal, San Francisco Chronicle, November 25, 2014
- ^ "The 2015 Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
- ^ Mintzer, Jordan (February 11, 2017). "'the bomb': Film Review | Berlin 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Eric Schlosser at IMDb
- Ubben Lecture at DePauw University
- Eric Schlosser at Steven Barclay Agency