John Branch is an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and writer who currently works at 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 ...

,'' covering topics related to sports and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Early life and education

Branch was born on June 25, 1967, in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

and raised in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Master of Arts degree in journalism, both from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Career

After graduating from college, Branch worked for ''The Gazette'' in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

as a business reporter from 1996 to 1998, and a sports reporter from 1998 to 2002. He then worked as a sports columnist for ''

The Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a three-times a week newspaper serving Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the larges ...

'' from 2002 to 2005. He first joined ''

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 ...

'' in 2005. Branch won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing for " Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek," a multimedia narrative on a deadly avalanche at

Stevens Pass Stevens Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County and Chelan County in Washington, United States. U.S. Route 2 travels over the pass, reaching a maximum elevation of . The Pacific ...

, and was a finalist in the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for his series titled "Punched Out" about the death of ice hockey player

Derek Boogaard Derek Leendert Boogaard ( ; later ; June 23, 1982 – May 13, 2011) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). A native of Saskatchewan, wh ...

. He authored a biography about Boogaard titled ''Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard'' which was released in 2014. It won the 2015 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. Branch wrote the book, ''The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West'', which was released in 2018. The book centres on the Wright family from Utah, sixth generation ranchers who are also some of the world's best saddle bronc riders. The book came out of a 2015

article by Branch called ''The Ride of Their Lives''. A collection of Branch's articles and personal essays is to be published in 2021 called ''Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports''. This collection will include the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning feature " Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,".

Personal life

Branch is based in

Novato, California Novato (Spanish language, Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, situated in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

References

External links

Times Topics
People from Redondo Beach, California The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners The New York Times journalists University of Colorado Boulder alumni Living people Journalists from California Sportswriters from New York (state) Sportswriters from California 1967 births {{US-journalist-1960s-stub