Katherine Ellison (born August 19, 1957) is an
American author. With two colleagues, she won the 1985
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic R ...
for their work reporting on corruption in the Philippines.
Career
Ellison has authored and co-authored seven books, including: "Loving Learning: How Progressive Education Can Save America's Schools," ''Square Peg: My Story and What it Means for Raising Innovators, Visionaries, and Out-of-the-Box Thinkers'', published by
Hyperion Voice in March 2013; ''Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention'', Hyperion Voice, 2010, ''The Mommy Brain: How motherhood makes us smarter'' (2005), ''The New Economy of Nature: The quest to make conservation profitable'', ''Imelda: Steel butterfly of the Philippines''.
To promote her 2005 book ''The Mommy Brain: How motherhood makes us smarter'', Ellison appeared on ''The CBS Early Show'', ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
'', and an excerpt from the book was featured in the May edition of ''Self Magazine''. ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' featured an interview with Ellison about ''The Mommy Brain'' in the April 25, 2005 edition. ''The New York Times'' published an op-ed by Ellison entitled "Mommy Brain" on May 8, 2005.
Ellison's writings have been published in publications such as ''Working Mother'', ConservationMagazine.org, ''
Fortune'', ''Monthly Magazine'', and ''Conservation in Practice''.
Her consulting work includes speechwriting for Google.org and
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneur ...
; editing and writing for
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's death ...
, the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
, the
Native Conservancy and
Stanford University.
She writes a monthly column for ''
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment'' and is a member of the
North 24th Writers. She also wrote an essay in the book ''Read, Reason, Write'' 8th edition.
Awards
Working for the ''
San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'' in 1985, Ellison along with
Lewis M. Simmons and
Pete Carey
Pete Carey is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Carey worked at the Mercury News California from 1967 to 2016 as a projects reporter and investigative correspondent, covering the defense industry, the rise of Silicon Valley, the fina ...
wrote about how
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
and
Imelda Marcos
Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictato ...
had looted the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
treasury and clandestinely purchased properties in the United States. They were jointly awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic R ...
, citing "their June 1985 series that documented massive transfers of wealth abroad by President Marcos and his associates and had a direct impact on subsequent political developments in the Philippines and the United States."
She has won other journalism prizes including the
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic and Latino journalists in the United States and Puerto Rico. It was established in 1984.
NAHJ has approxim ...
first-place award, in 1997, for coverage of problems with privatizations in Mexico and Argentina; the
Inter American Press Association
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA; Spanish: ''Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa'', SIP) is a press advocacy group representing major media organizations in North America, South America and the Caribbean. It is made up of more than 1,300 ...
first-place award for feature-writing, won in both 1994 and 1995, for stories on politics and culture in South America; the
Latin American Studies Association
The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) is the largest association for scholars of Latin American studies. Founded in 1966, it has over 12,000 members, 45 percent of whom reside outside the United States (36 percent in Latin America and the C ...
Media Award, in 1994, for several years of excellence in regional coverage; the
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...
Award, in 1989, for human rights reporting in Mexico and Nicaragua; the
George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
and the
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training ...
Award, in 1986, for coverage of the Philippines.
Personal life
Ellison lives in
San Anselmo, California
San Anselmo () is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). It is located about north of San Francisco. The town is bordered by San Rafael ...
and is married to Jack Epstein, foreign editor at the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
''. They have two sons, Joey and Joshua Epstein.
In 2007, then-48-year-old Ellison and her then-12-year-old son "Buzz," were diagnosed with
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...
and had a tumultuous relationship which Ellison describes in her memoir "Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention" (2010).
References
External links
*
"On the Fly with Katherine Ellison" – An Interview with Guernica: A Magazine of Art and Politics*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Katherine
1957 births
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
People from San Anselmo, California
American non-fiction writers
American women journalists
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners
Writers from Minnesota
Journalists from California
The Mercury News people
21st-century American women