Hertsgaard, Mark 1956-

PERSONAL:

Born 1956.

ADDRESSES:

Home—San Francisco, CA. E-mail—mark@markhertsgaard.com.

CAREER:

Journalist and writer. Nation, environmental correspondent; LinkTV, political correspondent; Nation Institute, New York, NY, fellow. Regular commentator on the public radio show Marketplace; appeared as himself in the film The Panama Deception, 1992.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Katrina Media fellow, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Nuclear Inc.: The Men and Money behind Nuclear Energy, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1983.

On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 1988, revised edition, Schocken Books (New York, NY), 1989.

A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 1998.

The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including the New York Times, New Yorker, Harper's, Nation, Washington Post, Guardian, Salon.com, Grist, San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, Atlantic Monthly, Die Zeit, La Repubblica, Yomiuri Shimbum, De Volkskrant, Time, Vanity Fair, NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), and Vanguardia. The author's books have been translated into sixteen languages.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mark Hertsgaard is a journalist who has written extensively about politics and the environment. In his first book, Nuclear Inc.: The Men and Money behind Nuclear Energy, the author explores what he sees as the failure of American governmental policy concerning the development of nuclear power and the dangers inherent in the proliferation of nuclear power plants. "One of the strengths of his book comes from his extensive interviewing of industry leaders," noted Daniel Yergin in the New York Times Book Review. Yergin also allowed that, "Despite his own position, he appears to have persuaded many executives to open up, and he gives them full opportunity to express their views."

Known for his insightful and sometimes biting commentary, Hertsgaard turns his attention to his fellow journalists in his book On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency. Specifically, Hertsgaard examines how the White House staff and the late President Ronald Reagan easily manipulated the press, noting that the press was often simply incompetent or was knowingly acquiescing to the will of their corporate employers (i.e. those who favored the administration). A contributor reviewing On Bended Knee for Broadcasting wrote: "Based on what the author says was more than 175 interviews with figures from the White House and the media and on reviews of stories published and broadcast during the Reagan presidency, the book portrays a press that was more than willing to be guiled." Stephen E. Ambrose, writing in the New York Times Book Review, commented: "The author has worked hard and produced a readable and often enlightening book."

Hertsgaard next turns from political issues to modern culture in his book A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles. Relying on extensive interviews with those who worked with and knew the Beatles, as well as listening to more than fifty hours of previously unreleased session recordings, the author examines what made the British rock band not only so popular but also so talented. Referring to A Day in the Life as "engaging," Billboard contributor Mark Marone also wrote: "The book succinctly paints a picture of the most important part of the Beatles' mystique: their music." Several other reviewers also praised the book. Writing in Booklist, Gordon Flagg commented that the author "affords incisive observations on Lennon and McCartney's songwriting process and the band's special chemistry." Entertainment Weekly critic Michael E. Ross wrote: "In brisk, refreshing prose, he makes sense of the singers." Another reviewer, writing for Publishers Weekly, commented on the author's focus on the music, noting that "this well-crafted bio delivers on its promise to make the Beatles' music the central subject."

For his book Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future, Hertsgaard traveled the globe for six years to report on the Earth's pervasive environmental problems. From France and Russia to Thailand and Brazil, the author relies largely on the voices of the local people who must live with these respective problems. Hertsgaard tells the stories of a wide variety of people, from an interpreter in China who, in his efforts to leave behind poverty, is indifferent to the country's growing environmental issues; to a Dinka tribesman in Sudan whose concerns show a desire to lessen the suffering of the poor if environmental advances are to be made. In addition to conducting interviews with everyday people, the author also draws on discussions with such notables as politician and environmentalist Al Gore, and the late undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau. Among the issues Hertsgaard addresses are the spread of nuclear technology, global warming, the worldwide growing addiction to automobiles, and the dynamics between capitalism and environmental responsibility.

"Hertsgaard makes two crucial points. First, he argues that the rising demands for material well-being from the world's impoverished people threaten everyone's ecological future," wrote Harvey Wasserman in the Progressive. "But, second, he explains that the core of the problem is not the legitimate demands of the needy, but the overconsuming West and its suicidal model of development." Wasserman also called Earth Odyssey "an excellent piece of work." In the same review, Wasserman further stated that "Hertsgaard's book is a graceful but down-and-dirty diorama of poverty and planetary disease." Several reviewers also noted that the author does more than just point out the crisis. Richard Wolkomir, writing in the Smithsonian, praised Earth Odyssey, noting that the "book is admirable in its willingness not only to document the dimensions of environmental degradation imperiling the planet, but in its careful attempt to suggest real strategies for change. Hertsgaard is, at heart, a pragmatist." Carolyn Fry, writing in Geographical, likewise noted that the author "does not try to offer his own opinions; rather he lets us makes our own minds up." A Publishers Weekly contributor called the book an "eloquent wake-up call [that] deserves a wide readership."

In The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World, Hertsgaard draws on six months of his travels through fifteen countries and his many interviews with local citizens. His focus is on how people around the globe perceive both Americans and the United States government. "Hertsgaard strives in his book to awaken Americans to the consequences of their government's actions abroad and to convince citizens to refuse to give up their power and sacrifice freedom," wrote Mary Troy Johnston in the National Catholic Reporter. Johnston went on to note: "Though the subject matter is heavy, the book transcends a dark mood through the author's fresh and optimistic approach. He employs clever and simple prose throughout and serves up his agenda at the outset." Reviewers also noted that the author takes on a task that is often avoided when talking about the United States within the context of the world. Writing in Booklist, Bryce Christensen commented that "as difficult as sober self-criticism may be … Hertsgaard summons us to that task." A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that the author's "work is not without entertainment value, for he can sharpen a sentence to a deadly edge."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Billboard, April 29, 1995, Mark Marone, review of A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles, p. 45.

Booklist, March 1, 1995, Gordon Flagg, review of A Day in the Life, p. 1172; January 1, 1999, Mary Carroll, review of Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future, p. 805; October 15, 2002, Bryce Christensen, review of The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World, p. 382.

Broadcasting, September 5, 1988, review of On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency, p. 64.

Choice, October, 1983, review of Nuclear Inc.: The Men and Money behind Nuclear Energy, p. 321.

Ecologist, December, 1999, Gard Binney, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 475.

Economist, February 13, 1999, review of Earth Odyssey.

Entertainment Weekly, April 7, 1995, Michael E. Ross, review of A Day in the Life, p. 84.

Geographical, April, 1999, Carolyn Fry, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 67.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2002, review of The Eagle's Shadow, p. 1194.

Library Journal, December, 1998, Nancy J. Moeckel, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 150.

National Catholic Reporter, February 7, 2003, Mary Troy Johnston, review of The Eagle's Shadow, p. 25.

Natural History, June, 1999, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 20.

New Leader, November 14, 1988, Robert Lekachman, review of On Bended Knee, p. 19.

New Republic, January 9, 1989, Nicholas Lemann, review of On Bended Knee, p. 34.

New York Times, November 15, 2002, Michiko Kakutani, review of The Eagle's Shadow, p. E45.

New York Times Book Review, July 31, 1983, Daniel Yerkin, review of Nuclear Inc., p. 7; November 20, 1988, Stephen E. Ambrose, review of On Bended Knee, p. 34; May 21, 1995, Charles Kaiser, review of A Day in the Life, p. 18; February 6, 1995, review of A Day in the Life, p. 72; December 15, 2002, Chris Hedges, review of The Eagle's Shadow, p. 25.

Progressive, April, 1999, Harvey Wasserman, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 42.

Publishers Weekly, April 15, 1983, review of Nuclear Inc., p. 37; February 6, 1995, review of A Day in the Life, p. 72; November 23, 1998, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 51; September 23, 2002, review of The Eagle's Shadow, p. 62.

Smithsonian, July, 1999, Richard Wolkomir, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 37.

Time, January 11, 1999, John Skow, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 102.

Washington Monthly, May, 1999, Bill McKibben, review of Earth Odyssey, p. 43.

ONLINE

Frontline Web site,http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ (July 11, 1996), Steve Talbot, transcript of interview with Hertsgaard.

International Movie Database,http://imdb.com/ (March 22, 2007), information on author's appearance on film.

Mark Hertsgaard Home Page,http://www.markhertsgaard.com (March 22, 2007).

Now Web site,http://www.pbs.org/now/ (December 13, 2002), Bill Moyers, transcript of interview with Hertsgaard.

Open Society Institute and Soros Foundation Network Web site,http://www.soros.org/ (March 22, 2006), "Katrina Media Fellowships."

Teleopolis,http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/24/24068/1.html (November 29, 2006), Craig Morris, "We Are Now Aware That We Are an Empire," interview with author.