Patricia Ward Biederman
Patricia Ward Biederman is an award-winning author and journalist who has built an impressive career writing gripping non-fiction books, magazine stories and essays. Biederman is the author of eight books that explore topics ranging from American society's fascination with celebrities and the culture of commercialized sports to the danger of environmental pollution and environmental policies.
Biederman's career as a journalist began in 1978 when she moved to Los Angeles to work as a freelancer for various magazines. Since then, Biederman has written for many of the top publications including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Boston Globe, New York Magazine, Harper's, Newsweek, Time and The Atlantic. Her journalism career includes investigative pieces from probes of inside the Oklahoma City bombing trial to investigations of corrupt environmental practices in California.
Biederman has also explored wide-ranging social issues, including the 2007 subprime loan fiasco, investigations of police misconduct in Los Angeles, the impact of toxic minerals on farming communities and the perils of gentrification in Southern California neighborhoods. After nearly 30 years of varied reporting, she is one of the nation’s most trusted authors and has been sought-after as an author on many books, including several written with prominent political figures.
Biederman achieved a major career landmark in 1992 with her first book, the critically-acclaimed and award-winning : “The Downloaders: The Story of the People Behind the Creation of the Internet.” It reads like a novel, and captures the excitement of the development of the Internet. Since then, Biederman has written seven more books. She ventured into non-fiction in 2004 with her book “Unspoiled and Unmourned: The Culture of Commercialized Sports” which features a collection of profiles of sports figures ranging from Olga Korbut to Mark McGwire. Biederman also wrote “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History,” which was lauded by the New York Times for its “accuracy, vividness and insight.”
In addition to writing books, Biederman's work has been featured in magazines and newspapers including The Washington Post Magazine, Chicago Tribune Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, and she has contributed essays to several anthologies.
Biederman has hundreds of journalistic awards and honors to her name including Pulitzer Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Worth Bingham Prize, the Los Angeles Magazine and New York Times Magazine Awards, among others.
Biederman has also lectured at colleges and universities and makes occasional appearances on radio and television.
Patricia Ward Biederman is a respected journalist and author who has not only taken on complex and hard-hitting social topics but has also written gripping and immersive stories to keep readers engaged. Her decades of writing exemplifies her commitment to investigating difficult topics and her ability to tell meaningful and persuasive stories with insight and verve.
