American author (born 1974)
Brendan Ian Koerner (born September 21, 1974) is an American author who has been a contributing editor and columnist for Wired magazine, The New York Times , Slate magazine, and others. His books include Now the Hell Will Start (2008) and The Skies Belong to Us (2013).
Education and career
Koerner graduated from Yale University with a BA degree.[ 1] In college, he contributed to campus humor magazine The Yale Record .[ 2]
Koerner's first journalism job out of school was at U.S. News & World Report as a researcher and fact checker, he eventually became senior editor.[ 1] [ 3] Koerner left USN&WR to become a freelance writer in 2000, and was a regular contributor to The New Republic , Mother Jones , Harper's Magazine , Legal Affairs , Washington Monthly , and The Christian Science Monitor .[ 1] [ 4] He was also a columnist for Gizmodo.com , Slate.com , The New York Times Sunday Business section and the Village Voice (as "Mr. Roboto").[ 1] [ 4] In addition, Koerner has served as a contributing editor to Wired .[ 1] [ 4] He has also published in magazines such as Details , Spin and Men's Journal .[ 4] In 2006, Koerner edited the anthology The Best of Technology Writing which was positively reviewed in California Bookwatch [ 5] and SciTech Book News .[ 1] [ 6]
His first solo authored full length book, Now the Hell Will Start: One Soldier's Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II , was published by Penguin Press in 2008. It is a non-fiction narrative investigating and recounting the story of Herman Perry , an African-American World War II soldier stationed in the China-Burma-India theatre of the war. Perry killed a white officer while helping construct the Ledo Road . He subsequently retreated into the Indo-Burmese wilderness and joined a tribe of the headhunting Nagas . The book was favorably reviewed.[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10] In 2009, Spike Lee optioned the film rights and Lee commissioned Koerner to write a draft of the screenplay.[ 11] [ 12]
In 2011, Koerner published Piano Demon: The Globetrotting, Gin-Soaked, Too-Short Life of Teddy Weatherford, the Chicago Jazzman Who Conquered Asia , it is about the jazz musician Teddy Weatherford .[ 13]
Koerner's third book, The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking (2013) is a history of the "golden age" of skyjacking in the United States from the first incident in May 1961 through January 1973, when there were as many as one skyjacking a week or about 159 in total. The book looks at the causes of the epidemic, some of the more famous ones and follows in-depth the story of the longest-distance skyjacking in American history, involving Willie Roger Holder and Catherine Marie Kerkow , a young couple who took control of Western Airlines Flight 701 on June 2, 1972. The book was favorably reviewed including in The New York Times Book Review ,[ 14] The New York Times ,[ 15] The Washington Post ,[ 16] Los Angeles Times ,[ 17] The National (Abu Dhabi),[ 18] SFGate ,[ 19] and Bookforum .[ 20]
Awards and honors
Koerner is a fellow at the New America Foundation . In 2002, the Columbia Journalism Review named him one of its "Ten Young Writers on the Rise".[ 21] In 2010, the New Haven Review included him in its list of "20 Non-fiction Writers Under 40".[ 22] In 2003, he won a National Headliner Award for feature writing.[ 23] His work has been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2003, "Disorders Made to Order") and Best American Science and Nature Writing (2003, "Embryo Police").[ 1]
Personal life
Brendan's father gave him the middle name Ian because he was a fan of Ian Fleming 's James Bond movies.[ 11] Brendan is married, with a son[ 11] and a daughter.
Bibliography
References
^ a b c d e f g "Brendan I. Koerner." Contemporary Authors Online . Detroit: Gale, 2009. Biography In Context. Last accessed October 25, 2013. Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000188220
^ The Yale Record . New Haven: Yale Record. November 1992. p. 3.
^ Brett Forrest (August 3, 1999). "Brendan Koerner" . Adweek – Southeast Edition . p. 12. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
^ a b c d Brendan I. Koerner. "About Brendan I. Koerner" . Microkhan . Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
^ California Bookwatch , April 1, 2007, review of The Best of Technology Writing
^ SciTech Book News , March 1, 2007, review of The Best of Technology Writing
^ Jonathan Yardley (July 13, 2008). "Jonathan Yardley on 'Now the Hell Will Start' " . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ James Fallows (July 21, 2008). "A wonderful new book: 'Now the Hell Will Start' " . The Atlantic . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Michelle Kung (May 23, 2008). "Now the Hell Will Start" . Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Staff writer (April 15, 2008). "Now the Hell Will Start" . Kirkus Reviews . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ a b c Evan Ratliff and Brendan I. Koerner. "Longform Podcast #49: Brendan I. Koerner" . Longform . Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
^ Marc Graser (February 2, 2009). "Director grabs rights to WWII thriller" . Variety . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Brendan I. Koerner. "Piano Demon" . Atavist . Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
^ Benjamin Wallace-Wells (July 5, 2013). "Theirs for the Taking" . The New York Times Book Review . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Dwight Garner (June 13, 2013). "Bonnie and Clyde, the Aerial Version" . The New York Times . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Daniel Stashower (July 12, 2013). "Book review: 'The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking' by Brendan I. Koerner" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on July 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Héctor Tobar (June 20, 2013). "Fly the unfriendly skies with 'The Skies Belong to Us' " . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Jamie Kenny (August 3, 2013). "The Skies Belong to Us: a look at the era of airline hijackings" . The National . UAE. Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Glenn C. Altschuler (June 28, 2013). " 'The Skies Belong to Us,' by Brendan Koerner" . SFGate . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Jordan Smith (July 2, 2013). "Terror in the Skies" . Bookforum . Retrieved October 16, 2013 .
^ Ilena Silverman (November–December 2002). "Ten Young Writers on the Rise" . Columbia Journalism Review . p. 45. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
^ Mark Oppenheimer (October 6, 2010). "20 Non-fiction Writers Under 40" . New Haven Review . Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
^ "National Headliner Awards 2003" . National Headliner Award . 2003. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
External links
International National Artists