Jump to content

Eric Schlosser: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
 
(351 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American journalist and author (born 1959)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
{{Infobox writer
| image = SCHLOSSER - current headshot.jpg
|image =
| name = Eric Schlosser
|imagesize = 150px |
| pseudonym =
| name = Eric Schlosser
| birth_name = Eric Matthew Schlosser<ref name="nyt1">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/06/style/shuana-redford-married-in-utah.html | work=The New York Times | title=Shuana Redford Married In Utah | date=October 6, 1985|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121060420/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/06/style/shuana-redford-married-in-utah.html|archive-date=January 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|8|17}}
| birthname = Eric Schlosser
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| birthdate = {{birth date and age|1969|8|17}}
| death_date =
| birthplace = [[New York City]]
| deathdate =
| death_place =
| occupation = Investigative writer
| deathplace =
| period = 1995—present
| occupation = Non-fiction writer, Journalist
| genre = Non-fiction
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| education = [[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Oriel College, Oxford]] ([[Master of Letters|MLitt]])
| period = 1995— present
| genre =
| subject =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = ''[[Fast Food Nation]]'' (2001)<br />''[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|Reefer Madness]]'' (2003)<br />''[[Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety]]'' (2013)
| movement =
| spouse = {{marriage|Shauna Jean Redford|1985}}<ref name=nyt1/><ref name=Register-Guard>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RkVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h-oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6634,675292&dq=redford-grandfather-anna-conor&hl=en|title=Robert Redford is a grandfather |date=3 August 1992 |location=[[Eugene, Oregon]] |page=2
| notableworks = ''[[Fast Food Nation]]'' (2000)<br>''[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|Reefer Madness]]'' (2003)<br>''[[Chew On This]]'' (2006, with [[Charles Wilson (author)|Charles Wilson]])
|work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]]|via=[[Google News Archive]]}}</ref>
| spouse = [[Shauna Redford]]
| partner =
| partner =
| children =
| children = 2
| parent = [[Herbert Schlosser]] (father)
| relatives =
| relatives = [[Robert Redford]] (father-in-law)
| influences =
| influenced =
| influences =
| awards =
| influenced =
| signature =
| awards =
| signature =
}}
}}


'''Eric Schlosser''' (born [[August 17]], [[1969]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[journalism|journalist]] and [[author]] known for investigative or [[muckraking]] journalism, such as in his books ''[[Fast Food Nation]]'', ''[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|Reefer Madness]]'' and ''[[Chew On This]]''. A number of critics{{Who|date=June 2009}} have compared his work to the books and essays of [[Upton Sinclair]] [http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/wilson/praise.shtml].
'''Eric Matthew Schlosser''' (born August 17, 1959) is an American [[journalist]] and [[food writer]]. He is known for his books ''[[Fast Food Nation]]'' (2001), ''[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|Reefer Madness]]'' (2003), and ''[[Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety]]'' (2013).


==Biography==
== Personal history ==
Schlosser was born in [[Manhattan, New York]]; he spent his childhood there and in [[Los Angeles, California]]. His father, Herbert Schlosser, a former Wall Street lawyer who turned to broadcasting later in his career, eventually became the President of [[NBC]] in 1974. Schlosser studied American History at [[Princeton University]] and earned a graduate degree in British Imperial History from [[University of Oxford|Oxford]].
Schlosser was born in [[New York City, New York]]; he spent his childhood there and in [[Los Angeles, California]]. His parents are Judith (née Gassner) and [[Herbert Schlosser]], a former [[Wall Street]] lawyer who turned to broadcasting later in his career, eventually becoming president of [[NBC]] in 1974 and later becoming a vice president of [[RCA]].<ref name="nyt1"/><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/10/22/a-mothballed-mural|title=Dept. of Second Chances: A Mothballed Mural|last=Seabrook|first=John|date=October 22, 2001 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=May 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/04/27/archives/felicia-warburg-becomes-fiancee-bennington-alumna-engaged-to-robert.html | work=The New York Times | title=Felicia Warburg Becomes Fiancee; Bennington Alumna Engaged to Robert William Sarnoff, Son of R.C.A. Head Strauss | date=April 27, 1950}}</ref>


Schlosser graduated with an A.B. in history from [[Princeton University]] in 1982 after completing a 148-page-long senior thesis titled "Academic Freedom during the [[McCarthyism|McCarthy]] Era: [[Anti-Communism]], Conformity and Princeton."<ref>{{Cite journal |journal=Princeton University Senior Theses |last=Schlosser|first=Eric Matthew|date=1981|title=Academic Freedom during the McCarthy Era: Anti-Communism, Conformity and Princeton |publisher=History Department, [[Princeton University]]|url=http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01q811kk89t |quote=Access Restrictions: Walk-in Access. This thesis can only be viewed on computer terminals at the Mudd Manuscript Library...To order a copy complete the Senior Thesis Request Form. For more information contact mudd@princeton.edu.}}</ref> He then earned a [[Master of Letters]] in [[British Empire|British Imperial History]] from [[Oriel College, Oxford]]. He tried playwriting, writing two plays, ''Americans'' (1985) and ''We the People'' (2007). He is married to Shauna Redford, daughter of actor [[Robert Redford]].<ref name="nyt1"/>
Schlosser lives in California, and is working on a book about the prison system. He is married to Shauna Redford, daughter of [[Robert Redford]], and has two children.


== Work ==
===Journalism and books===
Schlosser started his career as a journalist with ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. He quickly gained recognition for his [[Investigative journalism|investigative pieces]], earning two awards within two years of joining the staff: he won the [[National Magazine Award]] for his reporting in his two-part series "Reefer Madness" and "Marijuana and the Law" (''The Atlantic Monthly'', August and September 1994), and he won the [[Sidney Hillman Foundation award]] for his article "In the Strawberry Fields" (''The Atlantic Monthly'', November 19, 1995).{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
===Drama===
{{external media| float = left| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?164691-1/fast-food-nation Presentation by Schlosser on ''Fast Food Nation'' at the 92nd Street Y, May 31, 2001], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?176507-1/reefer-madness-sex-drugs-cheap-labor ''Booknotes'' interview with Schlosser on ''Reefer Madness'', June 15, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?179032-6/reefer-madness-sex-drugs-cheap-labor Presentation by Schlosser on ''Reefer Madness'' at the Miami Book Fair, November 9, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?314853-1/words-eric-schlosser ''After Words'' interview with Schlosser on ''Command and Control'', September 27, 2013], [[C-SPAN]]}}
As an aspiring playwright, Schlosser wrote the play ''[[Americans (play)|Americans]]'' in 1985. It deals with the theme of American imperialism at the beginning of the 20th century, and features [[Leon Czolgosz]], [[William McKinley]]'s assassin, who shoots the President in anger over U.S. occupation of the [[Philippines]]. ''Americans'' was produced in 2003, but is not available in the United States. ''[[We the People (play)|We the People]]'', another play drawing on American history—in this case, the events surrounding the writing of the [[United States Constitution]]—followed in 2007.[http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/docs/We%20the%20People%20press%20release.pdf]


Schlosser wrote ''[[Fast Food Nation]]'' (2001), an exposé on the unsanitary and discriminatory practices of the [[fast food industry]]. ''Fast Food Nation'' evolved from a two-part article in ''Rolling Stone''. The book won the 2002 [[Firecracker Alternative Book Award]] for Nonfiction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.readersread.com/awards/firecracker.htm|title=Firecracker Alternative Book Awards|work=ReadersRead.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304133738/http://www.readersread.com/awards/firecracker.htm|archive-date=Mar 4, 2009}}</ref> Schlosser helped adapt his book into [[Fast Food Nation (film)|a 2006 film]] directed by [[Richard Linklater]]. The film opened November 19, 2006. ''Chew On This'' (2006), co-written with Charles Wilson, is an adaptation of the book for younger readers. ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' called ''Fast Food Nation'' the "Best Business Book of the Year" in 2001.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kahn |first=Jeremy |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/12/24/315310/index.htm |title=Best & Worst 2001 Honest CEOs. Harebrained ad campaigns. Appalling outfits. They've all earned a place on our year-end list. |publisher=money.cnn.com |date=December 24, 2001 |access-date=May 10, 2011}}</ref>
===Journalism===
Schlosser started his career as a journalist with the ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. He quickly gained recognition for his investigative pieces, earning two awards within his two years of joining the staff; he won the [[National Magazine Award]] for reporting for his two-part series “Reefer Madness” and “Marijuana and the Law” (''Atlantic Monthly'', August and September, 1994), and he won the Sidney Hillman Foundation award for his article, “In the Strawberry Fields” (''Atlantic Monthly'', November 19, 1995). In addition to the ''Atlantic Monthly'', Schlosser's work has appeared in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', ''[[The New Yorker]]'', and ''[[The Nation]].''


His 2003 book ''[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|Reefer Madness]]'' discusses the history and current trade of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]], the use of [[migrant worker]]s in [[California]] [[Strawberry|strawberry fields]], and the [[American pornography industry]] and its history. [[William F. Buckley]] gave ''Reefer Madness'' a favorable review,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley061003.asp |title=Reefer Madness |work=[[National Review]] |access-date=May 10, 2011}}</ref> as did ''[[BusinessWeek]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_20/b3833046_mz005.htm |title=What Is America Smoking? |newspaper=[[BusinessWeek]] |date=May 19, 2003 |access-date=May 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910165313/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_20/b3833046_mz005.htm |archive-date=September 10, 2011 }}</ref>
===Books===
Schlosser is known for his bestselling book, ''[[Fast Food Nation]]'', an exposé on the unsanitary and discriminatory practices of the [[fast food]] industry. ''Fast Food Nation'' evolved from a two-part article in ''Rolling Stone''. Schlosser helped adapt his book into [[Fast Food Nation (film)|a 2006 film]] directed by [[Richard Linklater]]. The film opened [[November 19]], [[2006]]. Schlosser is credited as co-screenwriter and executive producer. He has written ''[[Chew On This]]'' (2006, with [[Charles Wilson]]).


Schlosser's book ''[[Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety]]'' was published in September 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wcqs.org/post/five-books-read-fall|title=Five Books To Read This Fall|author=Greta Johnsen}}</ref> It focuses on the 1980 [[Damascus Titan missile explosion]], a non-nuclear explosion of a [[Titan II missile]] near [[Damascus, Arkansas|Damascus, AR]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/books/review/command-and-control-by-eric-schlosser.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Atomic Gaffes: ''Command and Control'' by Eric Schlosser|author-link=Walter Russell Mead |first=Walter Russell |last=Mead |date=September 12, 2013|access-date=September 18, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McKinley |first=James |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/fast-food-nation-author-will-return-with-book-on-nuclear-weapons/ |title=''Fast Food Nation'' Author Will Return With Book on Nuclear Weapons |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 5, 2012|access-date=October 6, 2012}}</ref> ''The New Yorker''{{'}}s [[Louis Menand]] called it "excellent" and "hair-raising" and said that "''Command and Control'' is how nonfiction should be written."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2013/09/30/130930crbo_books_menand |title=Nukes of Hazard |first=Louis |last=Menand |date=September 30, 2013 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> It was a finalist for the 2014 [[Pulitzer Prize for History]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2014-History |title=The Pulitzer Prizes &#124; Citation |publisher=Pulitzer.org |access-date=May 12, 2014}}</ref>
He has also written the 2003 book ''[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|Reefer Madness]]'', a three part book that discusses the history and current trade of marijuana, the use of illegal migrant workers in California strawberry fields, and the American porn industry and how it all began.


He has been working on a book on the [[American prison system]], which has been over 10 years in the making.<ref>Falconer, Morgan, [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/eric-schlosser-on-why-hes-giving-up-food-30plv35q7sk "Eric Schlosser on why he's giving up food"], ''Sunday Times'' (London), February 5, 2010</ref>
He is currently at work on a book about the American prison system.


==Works==
Schlosser's work has received positive reviews from across the entire political spectrum. William F. Buckley gave ''Reefer Madness'' a positive review [http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley061003.asp], as did ''Business Week''[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_20/b3833046_mz005.htm] and the ''Financial Times''. ''[[Fortune Magazine]]'' called ''Fast Food Nation'' the "Best Business Book of the Year" in 2001.[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/12/24/315310/index.htm] Schlosser's work has been required reading for the entire incoming freshman class at Louisiana State University [http://appl003.lsu.edu/srp/srp-fastfood.nsf/$Content/FAQ?OpenDocument] and Holy Cross [http://www.holycross.edu/publicaffairs/features/2003-2004/fastfood_nation].
*{{cite book |last1=Schlosser |first1=Eric |last2=Wilson |first2=Charles |title=Chew on this: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food |date=2006 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0-618-59394-1 |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Jayaraman |first1=Saru |last2=Schlosser |first2=Eric |title=Behind the Kitchen Door |date=12 February 2013 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8014-6759-2 |language=en}}


==Films==
==Films and awards==
Schlosser appeared in an interview for the DVD of [[Morgan Spurlock]]'s ''[[Super Size Me]]'', having a one-on-one discussion with the filmmaker about the fast-food industry. He declined to appear in the film itself. He made a public appearance along with [[Robert Kenner]], Alice Waters, Gary Hirshberg, Marcel Van Ooyen on June 5, 2009 at the Times Center in NYC following the screening of his new film [[Food, Inc. (film)|Food, Inc.]] presented by the Museum of the Moving Image. Food Inc. explores the way the American food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Owen Gleiberman, film critic for Entertainment Weekly, wrote "I'm not generally in the habit of praising documentaries for being good for you, but Food, Inc. is more than a terrific movie—it's an important movie, one that nourishes your knowledge of how the world works (or, in this case, has started not to work)."
Schlosser appeared in an interview for the DVD of [[Morgan Spurlock]]'s ''[[Super Size Me]]'', having a one-on-one discussion with the filmmaker about the [[Fast food|fast-food industry]]. He did not appear in the film itself. He was interviewed by [[Franny Armstrong]] in 2005 and is a feature interviewee in her film ''[[McLibel (film)|McLibel]]''.


Schlosser appeared in the 2008 documentary, ''[[Food, Inc.]]'', and the 2023 sequel ''[[Food, Inc. 2]]'' with [[Michael Pollan]].
He was interviewed by [[Franny Armstrong]] in 2005 and is a feature interviewee in her film [[McLibel (film)|McLibel]].


Schlosser also served as co-executive producer on the 2007 film ''[[There Will Be Blood]]''. In 2014, he was an executive producer of the farmworker documentary ''[[Food Chains]],''<ref>Tara Duggan, [http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Food-Chains-that-those-who-pick-our-food-get-5911886.php Documentary shows how those who pick our food get a raw deal], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 25, 2014</ref> a credit he shared with [[Eva Longoria]]. They both won a [[James Beard Foundation Award]] for their roles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2015-book-broadcast-and-journalism-awards-complete-winner-recap|title=The 2015 Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap|website=www.jamesbeard.org|language=en|access-date=February 5, 2018}}</ref> Schlosser also shared a director credit for the multimedia installation entitled "the bomb", an experimental film about nuclear weaponry coupled with a live score by [[The Acid]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/bomb-review-974723|title='the bomb': Film Review {{!}} Berlin 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=February 11, 2017 |access-date=February 5, 2018 |first=Jordan |last=Mintzer}}</ref>
Schlosser also served as an executive producer on the 2007 film [[There Will Be Blood]].

== Food industry's reaction to Schlosser's work ==
In May 2006, Schlosser and his co-author Charles Wilson released a children's book entitled "Chew On This." The book, along with increasing publicity for the Hollywood movie based on ''Fast Food Nation'', resulted in 18 food industry associations launching the [http://www.bestfoodnation.com www.bestfoodnation.com] website as part of a major public relations campaign. The site presents statements about health and labor practices in the American beef, pork, dairy, potato and other industries. One page includes two press releases accusing Schlosser of publishing misinformation.<ref>{{Dead link}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[Healthy diet]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist|30em}}


==External links==
*Janet Adamy and Richard Gibson, [http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114791345665656111-XmIEbGU58ayyaBWeUyRqHtc7_to_20060616.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top Flak Over 'Fast Food Nation' U.S. Food Manufacturers Rally To Oppose a Film and a Book That Blame Them for Obesity], [[May 18]], [[2006]].
*{{C-SPAN|89425}}
*{{IMDb name|1906802}}
*[http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13057 Ubben Lecture] at [[DePauw University]]
*[http://www.barclayagency.com/site/speaker/eric-schlosser Eric Schlosser at Steven Barclay Agency]


{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay}}
*Crain's Chicago Business, [http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=20844 Authors and McDonald's Exchange More Volleys], [[June 2]], [[2006]]
*[http://www.bestfoodnation.com/what-others.asp Best Food Nation: What Others are Saying] (Accessed [[July 26]], [[2006]])
*[http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=15899 Commencement address at DePauw University], [[May 22]], [[2005]]
*[http://www.newnewjournalism.com/bio.php?last_name=schlosser The New New Journalism] [[August 12]], [[2006]]


{{Authority control}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.roycecarlton.com/pdf/Schlosser-Kit.pdf (pdf) Biography at Royce Carlton Publishers], [[December 11]], [[2006]]
*[http://www.drury.edu/multinl/story.cfm?nlid=259&id=13729 Biography at Drury University], [[December 11]], [[2006]]
*[http://www.lib.iup.edu/depts/libsci/cusp/bio/schlosser.doc (MS Word) Biography at Indiana University of Pennsylvania], [[December 11]], [[2006]]
*[http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13057 Ubben Lecture at DePauw University]
*[http://uc.princeton.edu/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1345&Itemid=20 Session I: "Moving Beyond Fast Food Nation"] (University Channel audio/video) This is the opening session of a Princeton University conference on "Food, Ethics and the Environment", with Peter Singer. Eric Schlosser is introduced at minute 30:30.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlosser, Eric}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlosser, Eric}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford]]
[[Category:American journalists]]
[[Category:American food writers]]
[[Category:American writers]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:Writers from California]]
[[Category:The Atlantic (magazine) people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Dalton School alumni]]
[[Category:Dalton School alumni]]
[[Category:Journalists from New York City]]

[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[fr:Eric Schlosser]]
[[Category:Journalists from California]]
[[ja:エリック・シュローサー]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[pl:Eric Schlosser]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[fi:Eric Schlosser]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[sv:Eric Schlosser]]
[[Category:21st-century American journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Cannabis writers]]
[[Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners]]
[[Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners]]

Latest revision as of 19:22, 28 September 2024

Eric Schlosser
BornEric Matthew Schlosser[1]
(1959-08-17) August 17, 1959 (age 65)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationInvestigative writer
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Oriel College, Oxford (MLitt)
Period1995—present
GenreNon-fiction
Notable worksFast Food Nation (2001)
Reefer Madness (2003)
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (2013)
Spouse
Shauna Jean Redford
​
(m. 1985)​
[1][2]
Children2
ParentHerbert Schlosser (father)
RelativesRobert Redford (father-in-law)

Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and food writer. He is known for his books Fast Food Nation (2001), Reefer Madness (2003), and Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (2013).

Biography

[edit]

Schlosser was born in New York City, New York; he spent his childhood there and in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Judith (née Gassner) and Herbert Schlosser, a former Wall Street lawyer who turned to broadcasting later in his career, eventually becoming president of NBC in 1974 and later becoming a vice president of RCA.[1][3][4]

Schlosser graduated with an A.B. in history from Princeton University in 1982 after completing a 148-page-long senior thesis titled "Academic Freedom during the McCarthy Era: Anti-Communism, Conformity and Princeton."[5] He then earned a Master of Letters in British Imperial History from Oriel College, Oxford. He tried playwriting, writing two plays, Americans (1985) and We the People (2007). He is married to Shauna Redford, daughter of actor Robert Redford.[1]

Journalism and books

[edit]

Schlosser started his career as a journalist with The Atlantic Monthly in Boston, Massachusetts. He quickly gained recognition for his investigative pieces, earning two awards within two years of joining the staff: he won the National Magazine Award for his reporting in his two-part series "Reefer Madness" and "Marijuana and the Law" (The Atlantic Monthly, August and September 1994), and he won the Sidney Hillman Foundation award for his article "In the Strawberry Fields" (The Atlantic Monthly, November 19, 1995).[citation needed]

External videos
video icon Presentation by Schlosser on Fast Food Nation at the 92nd Street Y, May 31, 2001, C-SPAN
video icon Booknotes interview with Schlosser on Reefer Madness, June 15, 2003, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by Schlosser on Reefer Madness at the Miami Book Fair, November 9, 2003, C-SPAN
video icon After Words interview with Schlosser on Command and Control, September 27, 2013, C-SPAN

Schlosser wrote Fast Food Nation (2001), an exposé on the unsanitary and discriminatory practices of the fast food industry. Fast Food Nation evolved from a two-part article in Rolling Stone. The book won the 2002 Firecracker Alternative Book Award for Nonfiction.[6] Schlosser helped adapt his book into a 2006 film directed by Richard Linklater. The film opened November 19, 2006. Chew On This (2006), co-written with Charles Wilson, is an adaptation of the book for younger readers. Fortune called Fast Food Nation the "Best Business Book of the Year" in 2001.[7]

His 2003 book Reefer Madness discusses the history and current trade of marijuana, the use of migrant workers in California strawberry fields, and the American pornography industry and its history. William F. Buckley gave Reefer Madness a favorable review,[8] as did BusinessWeek.[9]

Schlosser's book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety was published in September 2013.[10] It focuses on the 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion, a non-nuclear explosion of a Titan II missile near Damascus, AR.[11][12] The New Yorker's Louis Menand called it "excellent" and "hair-raising" and said that "Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written."[13] It was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for History.[14]

He has been working on a book on the American prison system, which has been over 10 years in the making.[15]

Works

[edit]
  • Schlosser, Eric; Wilson, Charles (2006). Chew on this: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-59394-1.
  • Jayaraman, Saru; Schlosser, Eric (February 12, 2013). Behind the Kitchen Door. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-6759-2.

Films and awards

[edit]

Schlosser appeared in an interview for the DVD of Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, having a one-on-one discussion with the filmmaker about the fast-food industry. He did not appear in the film itself. He was interviewed by Franny Armstrong in 2005 and is a feature interviewee in her film McLibel.

Schlosser appeared in the 2008 documentary, Food, Inc., and the 2023 sequel Food, Inc. 2 with Michael Pollan.

Schlosser also served as co-executive producer on the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. In 2014, he was an executive producer of the farmworker documentary Food Chains,[16] a credit he shared with Eva Longoria. They both won a James Beard Foundation Award for their roles.[17] Schlosser also shared a director credit for the multimedia installation entitled "the bomb", an experimental film about nuclear weaponry coupled with a live score by The Acid.[18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Shuana Redford Married In Utah". The New York Times. October 6, 1985. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018.
  2. ^ "Robert Redford is a grandfather". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. August 3, 1992. p. 2 – via Google News Archive.
  3. ^ Seabrook, John (October 22, 2001). "Dept. of Second Chances: A Mothballed Mural". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  4. ^ "Felicia Warburg Becomes Fiancee; Bennington Alumna Engaged to Robert William Sarnoff, Son of R.C.A. Head Strauss". The New York Times. April 27, 1950.
  5. ^ Schlosser, Eric Matthew (1981). "Academic Freedom during the McCarthy Era: Anti-Communism, Conformity and Princeton". Princeton University Senior Theses. History Department, Princeton University. Access Restrictions: Walk-in Access. This thesis can only be viewed on computer terminals at the Mudd Manuscript Library...To order a copy complete the Senior Thesis Request Form. For more information contact mudd@princeton.edu.
  6. ^ "Firecracker Alternative Book Awards". ReadersRead.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009.
  7. ^ Kahn, Jeremy (December 24, 2001). "Best & Worst 2001 Honest CEOs. Harebrained ad campaigns. Appalling outfits. They've all earned a place on our year-end list". money.cnn.com. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  8. ^ "Reefer Madness". National Review. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  9. ^ "What Is America Smoking?". BusinessWeek. May 19, 2003. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  10. ^ Greta Johnsen. "Five Books To Read This Fall".
  11. ^ Mead, Walter Russell (September 12, 2013). "Atomic Gaffes: Command and Control by Eric Schlosser". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  12. ^ McKinley, James (October 5, 2012). "Fast Food Nation Author Will Return With Book on Nuclear Weapons". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  13. ^ Menand, Louis (September 30, 2013). "Nukes of Hazard". The New Yorker.
  14. ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  15. ^ Falconer, Morgan, "Eric Schlosser on why he's giving up food", Sunday Times (London), February 5, 2010
  16. ^ Tara Duggan, Documentary shows how those who pick our food get a raw deal, San Francisco Chronicle, November 25, 2014
  17. ^ "The 2015 Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  18. ^ Mintzer, Jordan (February 11, 2017). "'the bomb': Film Review | Berlin 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Eric_Schlosser&oldid=1248301807"