Robert Kolker
{{short description|American journalist}}
{{for|the film historian|Robert P. Kolker}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Robert Kolker
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| awards =
| alma_mater = Columbia University (BA)
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| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, US
| occupation = writer, journalist
| parents =
| genre = Long-form journalism
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| education =
| notableworks = Hidden Valley Road
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| relatives =
| caption =
| spouse = Kirsten Danis
}}
Robert Kolker is an American journalist and contributor to The New York Times Magazine{{Cite news |date=2011-03-01 |title=The New York Times Magazine - Masthead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/magazine/masthead.html |access-date=2024-07-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} who previously worked as a contributing editor at New York Magazine and projects and investigations reporter for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek.{{cite web|title=Bloomberg's New York magazine raid continues with Kolker hire|url=http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/01/bloombergs-new-york-magazine-raid-continues-with-kolker-hire-004352|website=Politico.com|accessdate=11 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813131820/http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/01/bloombergs-new-york-magazine-raid-continues-with-kolker-hire-004352|archive-date=13 August 2016|url-status=live}}
He is the author of Lost Girls,{{cite web|last1=Kolker|first1=Robert|title=Lost Girls|url=http://lostgirlsbook.com|website=Lost Girls|accessdate=16 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118031928/http://lostgirlsbook.com/|archive-date=18 January 2017|url-status=live}} a New York Times best-selling{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2013/07/27/e-book-nonfiction/|title=Nonfiction - Best Sellers|newspaper=New York Times|accessdate=14 November 2019}} true crime book that was named one of Publishers Weekly
Early life and education
Kolker is a native of Columbia, Maryland.{{Cite web|last=McCauley|first=Mary Carole|title=Columbia native Robert Kolker is having a moment, with an Oprah's Book Club selection and HBO, Netflix movies based on his work|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/howard/howard-magazine/bs-mg-ho-author-kolker-20201012-wfmzpehhbfc6tfh3plytnn6n6i-story.html|access-date=2020-12-01|website=baltimoresun.com}} His mother was a counselor at Howard County General Hospital and father worked as a homebuilder. He attended Wilde Lake High School and graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1991.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=November 30, 2020|title=Alumni in the News: November 30|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/latest/alumni-news/alumni-news-november-30|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=December 1, 2020|website=Columbia College Today}}
Career
=Longform journalism=
As a journalist, Kolker's work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, O, The Oprah Magazine, and The Marshall Project. His work often takes the form of reported narratives. His 2006 investigation into sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn{{cite news|last=Kolker|first=Robert|title=On the Rabbi's Knee|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/17010/|accessdate=3 November 2013|newspaper=New York Magazine|year=2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126211120/http://nymag.com/news/features/17010/|archive-date=26 November 2013|url-status=live}} helped bring an abuser to justice and was nominated for a National Magazine Award. His exploration of an eighteen-year murder-exoneration case and the police tactics that can lead to false confessions{{cite news|last=Kolker|first=Robert|title=I Did It|url=http://nymag.com/news/crimelaw/68715/|accessdate=3 November 2013|newspaper=New York Magazine|date=3 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126211121/http://nymag.com/news/crimelaw/68715/|archive-date=26 November 2013|url-status=live}} received the John Jay/Harry Frank Guggenheim 2011 Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award.{{cite web |url=http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/newsroom/4303.php |title=New York Magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer Investigative Team Win 2011 John Jay/H.F. Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Awards |last= |first= |date=12 January 2011 |website=John Jay College of Criminal Justice |publisher= |access-date=13 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903130811/http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/newsroom/4303.php |archive-date=3 September 2019 |url-status=live }}
Kolker's 2004 story in New York Magazine about a public-school embezzlement scandal was adapted for the feature film Bad Education, starring Hugh Jackman. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2019 before its rights were acquired by HBO.{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/hugh-jackmans-bad-education-acquired-hbo/|title=Hugh Jackman's 'Bad Education' Acquired by HBO|date=17 September 2019|publisher=The Wrap|accessdate=16 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016132145/https://www.thewrap.com/hugh-jackmans-bad-education-acquired-hbo/|archive-date=16 October 2019|url-status=live}}
In 2021 Kolker wrote the piece "Who Is the Bad Art Friend?" for The New York Times Magazine. The piece focused on the years long litigation between two former employees of Boston based writing center GrubStreet: Dawn Dorland, a former writing instructor and kidney donor, and Sonya Larson, a promising young writer accused of plagiarizing Dorland.{{cite web |last1=Kolker |first1=Robert |title=Who Is the Bad Art Friend? |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/magazine/dorland-v-larson.html |access-date=31 October 2021}} The piece went viral and renewed attention to the case led to the dismissal of Sonya Larson and several of her friends, also implicated in the dispute, from their positions at GrubStreet.{{cite web |last1=Eve |first1=Bridburg |title=Update for the GrubStreet Community 10.29.21 |url=https://grubstreet.org/blog/update-for-the-grubstreet-community-102921/ |access-date=30 October 2021}}
=''Lost Girls''=
Kolker's 2013 book Lost Girls recounts the lives of five sex workers murdered by the Long Island serial killer, and the story of the hunt for the as-yet-unidentified killer. It also explores the implications of the emergence of on-line personal ads as a major vehicle for sex work. The book received wide critical acclaim.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/books/review/lost-girls-by-robert-kolker.html|title=Gone Girls|date=7 July 2013|work=The New York Times|accessdate=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206145943/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/books/review/lost-girls-by-robert-kolker.html|archive-date=6 December 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/06/robert-kolker-lost-girls-prostitute-deaths|title='Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery' is a tribute to five prostitutes|date=6 August 2013|work=The Guardian|accessdate=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917062438/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/06/robert-kolker-lost-girls-prostitute-deaths|archive-date=17 September 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2013/07/27/book-review-lost-girls-unsolved-american-mystery-robert-kolker/ZwET1CD7viSIVAPOkFPaOI/story.html|title=Book review: 'Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery' by Robert Kolker - The Boston Globe|publisher=The Boston Globe|accessdate=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820144200/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2013/07/27/book-review-lost-girls-unsolved-american-mystery-robert-kolker/ZwET1CD7viSIVAPOkFPaOI/story.html|archive-date=20 August 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Kolker|first1=Robert|title=Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery|url=http://books.usatoday.com/book/‘lost-girls-reveals-details-of-terrible-crimes/r852143|website=books.usatoday.com|publisher=USA Today Books|accessdate=13 August 2016|date=2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019232522/http://books.usatoday.com/book/%E2%80%98lost-girls-reveals-details-of-terrible-crimes/r852143|archive-date=19 October 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/robert-kolkers-rich-tragic-lost-girls-delves-into-prostitution-of-internet-era/2013/07/07/c883ec7a-e26c-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html|title=Robert Kolker's rich, tragic 'Lost Girls' delves into prostitution of Internet era|first=Patrick|last=Anderson|date=7 July 2013|newspaper=Washington Post|accessdate=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829032507/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/robert-kolkers-rich-tragic-lost-girls-delves-into-prostitution-of-internet-era/2013/07/07/c883ec7a-e26c-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html|archive-date=29 August 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/books/robert-kolkers-lost-girls-delves-into-killings.html|title=A Ghost Story That Lacks an Ending|date=17 July 2013|work=The New York Times|accessdate=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524134045/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/books/robert-kolkers-lost-girls-delves-into-killings.html|archive-date=24 May 2016|url-status=live}}
Lost Girls was adapted for the 2020 feature film Lost Girls, directed by Liz Garbus and starring Amy Ryan.
=''Hidden Valley Road''=
Kolker's 2020 book Hidden Valley Road is the nonfiction account of the Galvins, a midcentury American family, with twelve children. The oldest son, Donald Jr. was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and then five more of his brothers were as well. The Galvins became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease.{{Cite book |isbn = 978-0385543767|title = Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family|last1 = Kolker|first1 = Robert|year = 2020}} Kolker was originally approached by the two Galvin sisters to write their family story, and interviewed Mimi Galvin as part of his research and writing.{{Cite magazine|last=Rodrick|first=Stephen|date=2020-04-21|title=Inside the Bestselling Medical Mystery 'Hidden Valley Road'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hidden-valley-road-robert-kolker-interview-986091/|access-date=2020-12-29|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} The book was listed by The New York Times as one of the "10 Best Books" of 2020 and one of the "Best Higher Education Books of 2020" by Forbes.{{Cite news|date=2020-11-23|title=The 10 Best Books of 2020|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/books/review/best-books.html|access-date=2020-12-01|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=Nietzel|first=Michael T.|title=The Best Higher Education Books Of 2020|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2020/12/01/the-best-higher-education-books-of-2020/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Forbes|language=en}}
Personal life
Kolker is married to Kirsten Danis, an editor at The New York Times and former managing editor of The Marshall Project, whom he met at Columbia.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=NYT's Bestselling Author Recalls Carman and Koronet|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/latest/take-five/hidden-valley-road-author-robert-kolker-91-recalls-carman-and-koronet|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=December 24, 2020|website=Columbia College Today}}{{Cite web|date=2018-09-21|title=Kirsten Danis Joining Metro|url=https://www.nytco.com/press/kirsten-danis-joining-metro/|access-date=2020-12-24|website=The New York Times Company|language=en-US}} Danis was also the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator.{{Cite web|title=Columbia hosts 100th annual Pulitzer Prize award dinner|url=http://columbiaspectator.com/news/2016/10/14/columbia-hosts-100th-annual-pulitzer-prize-award-dinner-0/|access-date=2020-12-24|website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://robertkolker.com RobertKolker.com]
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:New York (magazine) people
Category:Writers from New York (state)
Category:American non-fiction crime writers