Michael Leahy (author)

Michael Leahy (author)
Michael Leahy
Born Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Occupation Author, Journalist
Genres Nonfiction
Notable work(s) When Nothing Else Matters
Hard Lessons

Michael Leahy is an author and award-winning writer for The Washington Post and The Washington Post Magazine. He is best known for his second book, When Nothing Else Matters, which chronicles basketball superstar Michael Jordan's last comeback to the NBA.[1] Leahy's stories have also been selected for the 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 editions of The Best American Sports Writing anthologies.[2] His first book, Hard Lessons, follows the lives of six Beverly Hills High School students, class of 1986, and deals with the challenges and anxieties of teenage life in modern America.[3]

Contents

Early life

Leahy was born in Newark, New Jersey. At age 10, he moved with his family to a suburb of Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Yale University.

Career

A highly regarded feature writer known for his intimate portraits of subjects, Leahy explores everything from social issues to sports. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and his work has appeared in Playboy Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

Leahy has published two non-fiction books: Hard Lessons (1988) and When Nothing Else Matters (2004), which was heralded by GQ Magazine as "the best sports book of the year."

Along the way, he has written about subjects as wide-ranging as presidential politics, rural poverty, obesity in the American South, malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, the housecleaner dubbed fisherman-savior of Elian Gonzalez, the Army’s recruiting efforts amid the specter of the Iraq war, corporate scandals, a nudist camp, his mother’s struggles with Alzheimer’s, and the playing comeback of basketball legend Michael Jordan in Washington.

Awards

  • In 2006, his Washington Post Magazine story about a single mother from Massachusetts who took her two young children across the country to meet their father – a sperm donor known to the woman for years only as Donor 929 – won honors from the Society of Professional Journalists as the best magazine story in the country for that year.

Criticism

In his review of When Nothing Else Matters, English journalist Simon Barnes of The Times wrote "A better book, a perceptive writer, might have noticed that there was something heroic in all this: but Leahy is too deeply committed to his premise that everything Jordan does is, by definition, shameful."

Personal

Leahy resides with his wife and son in a suburb of Washington D.C.

References

  1. ^ Barnes, Simon. "When Nothing Else Matters by Michael Leahy", The Times, January 15, 2005. Accessed April 12, 2008.
  2. ^ Michael Leahy, Simon & Schuster. Accessed April 12, 2008.
  3. ^ Hailey, Kendall. "Down and Out at Beverly Hills High HARD LESSONS Senior Year at Beverly Hills High School by Michael Leahy", The Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1988. Accessed April 12, 2008.

Bibliography

Cramer, Richard (editor). (2004a) The Best American Sports Writing, New York. Houghton Mifflin Company.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Michael Leahy — may refer to: Michael Leahy (author), American writer Michael Leahy (politician), Irish politician Mick Leahy, Australian explorer Mick Leahy (boxer), Irish/British boxer This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same personal… …   Wikipedia

  • Michael D. Higgins — Not to be confused with Michael O Higgins or Michéal Ó hUiginn. His Excellency Michael D. Higgins 9th President of Ireland …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Jordan — For other people named Michael Jordan, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jordan Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls in 1997 …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Bennet — This article is about the U.S. Senator. For the director, see Michael Bennett. For other uses, see Michael Bennett (disambiguation). Michael Bennet United States Senator from Colorado …   Wikipedia

  • Saint Michael's College — Infobox University name = Saint Michael s College motto = Quis ut Deus established = 1904 type = Private president = Dr. John J. Neuhauser city = Colchester state = Vermont undergrad = 2,000 postgrad = 650 faculty = 144 campus = Suburban, 440… …   Wikipedia

  • When Nothing Else Matters — Infobox Book image caption = When Nothing Else Matters Hardback Cover name = When Nothing Else Matters author = Michael Leahy country = United States language = English cover designer = Jackie Seow cover photo = Catherine Wessel/Corbis Outline… …   Wikipedia

  • Beverly Hills High School — Infobox School name = Beverly Hills High School motto = Today Well Lived type = Public high school grades = 9–12 district = Beverly Hills Unified School District established = 1927 address = 241 Moreno Drive city = Beverly Hills state = CA… …   Wikipedia

  • Hard Lessons — Infobox Book image caption = Hard Lessons Hardback Cover name = Hard Lessons author = Michael Leahy country = United States language = English cover designer = Steve Snider cover photo = Carol Kaplan series = genre = Nonfiction publisher = Little …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural and political image of John McCain — John McCain s personal character has dominated the image and perception of him.[1] His family s military heritage, his rebellious nature as a youth, his endurance over his treatment as a prisoner of war, his resulting physical limitations, his… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Stanford University people — This is a list of encyclopedic persons (students, alumni, faculty or academic affiliates) associated with Stanford University in the United States. University presidents #David Starr Jordan (1891 – 1913) #John Casper Branner (1913 – 1915) #Ray… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”