Gwyneth Cravens (born c. 1945) is an American novelist and journalist. She has published five novels. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', where she also worked as a fiction editor, and in ''
Harper's Magazine
''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', where she was an associate editor. She has contributed articles and editorials on science and other topics to ''Harper's Magazine'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''.
At a September 2007 seminar given by the
Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...
, Cravens outlined the message of her book, ''Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy''. Released in October 2007, it argued for
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
as a safe
energy source
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include the production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reu ...
and an essential preventive of
global warming
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
. She appeared in the documentary
Pandora's Promise
''Pandora's Promise'' is a 2013 documentary film about the nuclear power debate, directed by Robert Stone. Its central argument is that nuclear power, which still faces historical opposition from environmentalists, is a relatively safe and clean ...
to speak about the merits of nuclear power.
Since then, she has given presentations to members of the technical and academic communities around the U.S., including the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...
, the
Progressive Policy Institute
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves as a public policy think tank in the United States. The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) founded it in 1989. ''The Washington Post'' has described the ...
, the
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...
, and
Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force B ...
. She has often shared the podium with Dr. D. Richard ("Rip") Anderson, a chemist,
oceanographer
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.
It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
, and international expert in nuclear risk assessment. These talks emphasize the need for the environmental and technical communities to work together to reduce the anthropogenic causes of catastrophic climate change.
Cravens has contributed articles on nuclear power as a
low-carbon
A low-carbon economy (LCE) is an economy which absorbs as much greenhouse gas as it emits. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mid-20th century. There are many proven ...
alternative energy
Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
source to ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' and ''
Discover
Discover may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album
* ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine
* "Discover", a song by Chris Brown from his 2015 album ''Royalty''
Businesses and bran ...
''. In 2002, she wrote "Terrorism and Nuclear Energy: Understanding the Risks" for ''The Brookings Review''.
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
. In an interview, she says that she "grew up in an anti-nuke family. My parents were anti-nuclear."
Cravens has a daughter, the artist Astrid Cravens (born 1967).
In 1974, she started dating
Henry Beard
Henry Nichols Beard (born June 7, 1945) is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine '' National Lampoon'' and the author of several best-selling books.
Life and career
Beard, a great-grandson of 14th Vice President John C. B ...
, one of the founders of the magazine '' National Lampoon'' and the author of several best-selling books. While there is some question if they ever married or not, they have continued as a couple. In 1991, an article said that Beard and Cravens divided their time between Manhattan and a renovated boat shed in East Hampton and referred to them as partners. A 2006 interview in a different publication said that Beard and Cravens had married.Karp pp. 29–30
In May 2022, it was reported that Cravens, suffering from
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
, went missing for a brief period, but was later located.
Bibliography
* ''The Black Death'' (1977), cinematised in 1992 as ''
Quiet Killer
''Quiet Killer'' is a 1992 American-Canadian made-for-television medical disaster film directed by Sheldon Larry. The thriller, based on the 1977 novel ''The Black Death'' by Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr''Power to Save the World: The Truth about Nuclear Energy'' (2007)
Filmography
*
Pandora's Promise
''Pandora's Promise'' is a 2013 documentary film about the nuclear power debate, directed by Robert Stone. Its central argument is that nuclear power, which still faces historical opposition from environmentalists, is a relatively safe and clean ...