Laufer, Peter

PERSONAL:

Born in NY; married Sheila Swan (a writer), July 4, 1974; children: Talmage Morris, Michael. Education: Attended University of California, Berkeley, 1968-69, 1980-82; American University, M.A., 1986; attended Carl Duisberg Centren, Cologne, Germany, 1988, Academia Sonora lengua y cultural española, Macharviaya, Spain, 1989, and Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Paris, France, 1989. Hobbies and other interests: Rowing.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—peterlaufer@peterlaufer.com.

CAREER:

KNEW-Radio, Oakland, CA, talk-show producer, 1966-68; KSFO-Radio, San Francisco, CA, writer, 1968-70; KSAN-Radio, San Francisco, news reporter and talk-show host, 1970-72; talk-show host for KGO and KABC radio stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA, 1972-74; KNAI-Radio, San Francisco, news reporter, 1975-76; KOLO-Radio, Reno, NV, news director, 1977; WFAA-Radio, Dallas, TX, news reporter and talk-show host, 1977; KNBR-Radio, San Francisco, news reporter and talk-show host, 1978-79; KYUU-Radio, San Francisco, news reporter, 1980-82; National Broadcasting Co., NBC News, Washington, DC, correspondent, 1982-87; KQED-Television and Radio, San Francisco, news reporter and producer and director of radio news operations, 1987-88; KCBS-Radio, San Francisco, news reporter and talk-show host, 1989-90; American Broadcasting Companies, news correspondent from Eastern Europe for radio news, 1990-92, news and program director and talk-show host for WWRC radio in Washington, DC, 1992-93; Visible Design Corp., San Francisco, script writer, 1994; Marketplace (public radio business show), chief of German bureau, 1995-96, producer and project manager, 1997; Omnipoint Business Minute (syndicated daily business program), writer and reporter, 1997-2000; Aortal, San Francisco, partner and news content aggregator, 2000-01; Public Radio International, writer and reporter for National Geographic Minute, 2003—, host and executive producer of National Geographic World Talk, 2004—. KXRX-Radio, news director and talk-show host, 1979-80; Columbia Broadcasting System, radio reporter from Middle East and Eastern Europe, 1989-90; guest host of Nightwatch, 1990; Newstalk 93.6 Radio, Berlin, Germany, founding program director, 1995-96; Business Shrink (syndicated daily business talk show), executive producer, 2004—; broadcast consultant. Reporter and cinematographer for independent documentary films Exodus to Berlin, 2001, and Sea to Shining Sea, 2004. Sonoma State University, faculty member, 1991-92; guest lecturer at other institutions, including San Francisco State University, American University, University of Nevada, University of Mississippi, California State University, San Luis Obispo, University of Oregon, Western Kentucky University, Free University of Berlin, and Misr University; symposium participant; public speaker. Blue Bear Music School, San Francisco, CA, director.

AWARDS, HONORS:

John J. McCloy fellow in Germany, American Council on Germany, 1982; fellow of International Press Institute (in Japan), 1983; Edward R. Murrow Award, B'nai B'rith, and Gabriel Award, Catholic Association for Broadcasters, 1984, for the documentary "Healing the Wounds"; World Hunger Media Award, citations from American Women in Radio and Television and Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation, and Distinguished Urban Journalism Award, National Urban Coalition, all 1984, for the documentary "Hunger in America"; awards from American Academy of Family Physicians, 1984, for the documentary "AIDS: The Facts and the Fears," and 1985, for the documentary "AIDS: The Killer Epidemic Continues"; George Polk Memorial Award, Department of Journalism, Long Island University, and citations from American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association, all 1985, for the documentary "Nightmare Abroad"; Edward R. Murrow Award and citation from Ohio State Awards, both 1986, for the documentary "Promise of Liberty"; National Headliner Awards, 1986, for the documentary "Cocaine Hunger" and 1987, for documentary on war in Nicaragua; Distinguished Service Award, Sigma Delta Chi, 1986; named outstanding young journalist, Northern California chapter, Society for Professional Journalists, 1985; award from International Reading Association Award, 1985, for the documentary "A Loss for Words"; Edward R. Murrow award, 1987, for national radio talk show on AIDS; fellow of Robert Bosch Foundation (in Germany), 1989; shared George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award, Henry W. Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Georgia, Radio-Television News Directors Association Award, Edward R. Murrow Award, and Silver Baton, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, all 1990, for earthquake coverage from San Francisco, CA; Excellence in Journalism Award, Northern California chapter, Society for Professional Journalists, 1991; fellow of Headlands Center for the Arts, 1991-93; award from Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, 1992; award from Joan Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, Harvard University, 1993; fellow of Konrad Adenauer Foundation (in Germany), 1993; Goldsmith research grant, John F. Kennedy School of Government, 1993; Knight International Press fellow in Minsk, Belarus, 1994; grants from RIAS Berlin Commission, Radio Television News Directors Foundation, and others, 1994, for a radio documentary "Border Wars," and 2000, for television documentary "Exodus to Berlin"; Gold Award, National Parenting Publications Awards, and selection as "notable social studies trade book for young people," Children's Book Council and National Council for the Social Studies, both 2000, for Made in Mexico; David Wolper Best Documentary Prize, Wine Country Film Festival, 2001, for television documentary "Exodus to Berlin"; grant from Robert Bosch Foundation.

WRITINGS:

Iron Curtain Rising: A Personal Journey through the Changing Landscape of Eastern Europe, Mercury House (San Francisco, CA), 1991.

Nightmare Abroad: Stories of Americans Imprisoned in Foreign Lands, Mercury House (San Francisco, CA), 1993.

(With Gene Lester) When Hollywood Was Fun, Birch Lane Press (New York, NY), 1994.

(With wife, Sheila Swan Lauder) Nevada Neon, University of Nevada Press (Reno, NV), 1994.

A Question of Consent: Innocence and Complicity in the Glen Ridge Rape Case, Mercury House (San Francisco, CA), 1994.

Inside Talk Radio: America's Voice or Just Hot Air?, Birch Lane Press (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Sheila Swan Laufer) Safety and Security for Women Who Travel, Travelers Tales (San Francisco, CA), 1999.

Wireless Etiquette: A Guide to the Changing World of Instant Communication, Omnipoint Communications (New York, NY), 1999.

Made in Mexico, illustrated by Susan L. Roth, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 2000.

(And producer and reporter) Exodus to Berlin (independent documentary film), 2001.

Exodus to Berlin: The Return of the Jews to Germany, Ivan R. Dee (Chicago, IL), 2003.

(Editor and author of introduction) Shock and Awe: Responses to War, Creative Arts Book Co. (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

(Editor) Highlights of a Lowlife: The Autobiography of Milan Melvin, Swan Isle (Bodega Bay, CA), 2004.

Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican Border, Ivan R. Dee (Chicago, IL), 2004.

Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq, Chelsea Green Press (White River Junction, VT), 2006.

Media critic and weekly columnist for SF Weekly, 1991-92. Contributor to periodicals, including Mother Jones, Europe, San Francisco Focus, Hungry Mind Review, City, Marin Independent Journal, Washington Journalism Review, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Image. Editor in chief, Gold Hill News, 1974.

Laufer's books have been published in German, Chinese, and Spanish.

SIDELIGHTS:

Peter Laufer described himself to CA as "a creative nonfiction journalist and writer working in all appropriate media: print, broadcast, Internet. Much of my work falls into the broad category of social problems and their solutions. While at NBC News, I reported, wrote, and produced several documentaries that dealt in detail with crucial social issues. ‘Healing the Wounds’ was an analysis of ongoing problems facing Vietnam war veterans. ‘Hunger in America’ documented malnutrition in contemporary society. ‘A Loss for Words’ drew attention to American illiteracy. ‘Cocaine Hunger’ traced the drug from the jungles of Bolivia to the streets of Oakland, California, and outlined the crises caused by crack use. ‘Nightmare Abroad’ was a study of Americans incarcerated overseas.

"My first major exposure to immigration issues dates to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when I reported from Afghan refugee camps. As the Iron Curtain fell I covered immigration from Romania and Yugoslavia to Poland and Germany, reporting on the desperate hoards of people trying to better their lives by talking, sneaking, bribing, cajoling themselves and their families into Western Europe with the same ferocity I found among Mexicans and other frustrated Latin Americans heading north.

"Many of my books deal with migration—from Eastern to Western Europe (Exodus to Berlin: The Return of the Jews to Germany), from Mexico to the U.S. (Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican Border), to Canada to avoid the Iraq war (Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq). Other books include The Question of Consent: Innocence and Complicity in the Glen Ridge Rape Case, a study of the rape of a mentally retarded schoolgirl by a gang of her classmates and its effect on the health of the local community. I've written works on the fall of Communism in Europe, a severe criticism of contemporary talk radio, and a book version of the documentary about Americans in prisons abroad. Another of my books, Made in Mexico, deals in a juvenile environment with cross-border issues between California and Mexico. I also wrote a study of the resurgence of the Jewish population in Germany and the concurrent rise of right-wing violence."