John Branch (journalist)

John Branch
Born (1967-06-25) June 25, 1967 (age 57)
Redondo Beach, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Colorado Boulder (BS, MA)
Notable work"Snow Fall"
AwardsPulitzer Prize for Feature Writing (2013)

John Branch is an American journalist and writer who currently works at the New York Times, covering topics related to sports and California.

Early life and education

Branch was born on June 25, 1967, in Redondo Beach, California and raised in Colorado. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Master of Arts degree in journalism, both from the University of Colorado Boulder.[1][2][3]

Career

After graduating from college, Branch worked for The Gazette in Colorado Springs 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 from 2002 to 2005.

He first joined The New York Times 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, and was a finalist in the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for his series titled "Punched Out" about the death of ice hockey player Derek Boogaard.[4]

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.[5][6]

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 New York Times article by Branch called The Ride of Their Lives.[7][8]

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,".[9]

Personal life

Branch is based in Novato, California.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ "John Branch - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  2. ^ "Meet John Branch". College of Media, Communication and Information. 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  3. ^ "John Branch". Dart Center. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  4. ^ May 5, Peninsula Press Staff on; AM, 2014 at 6:30 (2014-05-05). "NY Times reporter John Branch finds beauty — and a career — in quiet corners of sport". Local: In The Peninsula. Retrieved 2020-03-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Carolyn Kellogg (May 13, 2015). "PEN announces award-winners and shortlists". LA Times. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  6. ^ "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". pen.org. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  7. ^ Nathan Deuel (May 10, 2018). "True grit in the modern American West: 'The Last Cowboys' by John Branch". LA Times. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  8. ^ John Branch (March 11, 2015). "The Ride of Their Lives". New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  9. ^ W. W. Norton & Company. "Sidecountry". W. W. Norton & Company. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Michelson, Megan (2018-05-18). "The Pulitzer-Winning Chronicler of Cowboys and Climbers". Outside Online. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  11. ^ Branch, John (2017-10-11). "The Girl in the No. 8 Jersey". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-23.


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