Michael Leahy
Born (1953-01-28) January 28, 1953
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, journalist
Notable worksThe Last Innocents
When Nothing Else Matters
Hard Lessons
SpouseJane Leahy
Children1
Website
michael-leahy.com

Michael Leahy (born January 28, 1953) is an American author and award-winning writer for The Washington Post and The Washington Post Magazine. He is best known for his latest non-fiction book The Last Innocents, which examines the tumultuous political and social change of the 1960s through the lens of the era's legendary Los Angeles Dodgers.[1]

Leahy has also earned recognition for his 2004 book When Nothing Else Matters, which chronicles basketball superstar Michael Jordan's last comeback to the NBA.[2] Leahy's stories have also been selected for the 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 editions of The Best American Sports Writing anthologies.[3] His first book Hard Lessons follows the lives of six Beverly Hills High School students, class of 1986, and deals with the challenges and anxieties of teenage life in modern America.[4]

Early life

Leahy was born in Newark, New Jersey. At age 10, he moved with his family to a suburb of Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Yale University.

Career

A feature writer known for his intimate portraits of subjects, Leahy explores topics varying from politics to social issues to sports. He has written for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and his work has appeared in Washington Post Magazine, TV Guide, Playboy Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

Leahy has published three non-fiction books: Hard Lessons (1988), When Nothing Else Matters (2004) and The Last Innocents (2016).

Along the way, Leahy has covered presidential politics, rural poverty, obesity in the Southern United States, malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, the housecleaner dubbed fisherman-savior of Elian Gonzalez, the United States Army’s recruiting efforts amid the specter of the Iraq war, corporate scandals, a nudist camp, his mother’s struggles with Alzheimer's, and the playing comeback of basketball legend Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards.

Awards and accolades

Personal life

Leahy resides with his wife Jane in a suburb of Washington, D.C.; they have one child together.

Bibliography

References

  1. L. Ulin, David (June 24, 2016). "The Dodgers of the 1960s: riots, antiwar protests, tumultuous politics". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.
  2. Barnes, Simon. "When Nothing Else Matters by Michael Leahy", The Times, January 15, 2005. Accessed April 12, 2008.
  3. Michael Leahy, Simon & Schuster. Accessed April 12, 2008.
  4. Hailey, Kendall (November 20, 1988). "Down and Out at Beverly Hills High HARD LESSONS Senior Year at Beverly Hills High School by Michael Leahy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  5. Casey Award. Spitball: The Baseball Literary Magazine.
  6. "2017 Pen/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing". 18 January 2017.
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