User:MelissaHolberton/sandbox

Peter Richardson (born 1959) is an American author, teacher, and editor. His publications include books about Hunter S. Thompson, the Grateful Dead, Ramparts magazine, and Carey McWilliams.

Richardson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991. After teaching at the University of North Texas, he accepted an editorial position at the Public Policy Institute of California in 1999.

In 2005, Richardson became the founding editorial director at PoliPoint Press, where he acquired and developed books on progressive politics and current affairs. In that position, he edited Sasha Abramsky, Rose Aguilar, Dean Baker, Jeff Cohen, Marjorie Cohn, Joe Conason, Kevin Danaher, Belva Davis, Reese Erlich, Steven Hill, Phillip Longman, Markos Moulitsas, David Neiwert, Christine Pelosi, Sarah Posner, William Rivers Pitt, Nomi Prins, Norman Solomon, and Curtis White. One PoliPoint Press book, The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War, was the basis for Official Secrets, the 2019 film starring Keira Knightley.

Richardson's biography of radical author and editor Carey McWilliams appeared in 2005. Writing for The Nation, Mike Davis called American Prophet a "superb new biography." The following year, Richardson began teaching at San Francisco State University, where his courses focused on California culture.

Richardson's book about Ramparts magazine, A Bomb in Every Issue, appeared in 2009 and was an Editors' Choice at The New York Times. Reviewing the book for that newspaper, Jack Shafer wrote that it "satisfies on every level." It was also a Best Book of 2009 at Mother Jones and a Notable Bay Area Book at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Richardson's 2015 book about the Grateful Dead, No Simple Highway, was an Editors' Pick at Amazon and a national bestseller.

Savage Journey, Richardson's book about Hunter S. Thompson, was published in 2022 and received favorable reviews in the Wall Street Journal, Times Literary Supplement, and Alta magazine. In its review, the Wall Street Journal commended Richardson's "superb grasp of 1960s Bay Area culture."

In one interview, Richardson said he thought his books about Ramparts, the Grateful Dead, and Hunter Thompson formed "an informal trilogy about the San Francisco counterculture."

Richardson has been featured in major newspapers and on national public radio programs in North America and abroad. He also has appeared in documentary films and podcasts, including Robert Scheer: Above the Fold (2019), Manson: Music From an Unsound Mind (2019), Days of Rage: The Rolling Stones' Road to Altamont (2020), Monster: The Zodiac Killer (2019), and Myth of the Zodiac Killer (2023). In 2022, he appeared on CBS News with Nicole Killion and C-SPAN's "Book TV" to discuss Hunter Thompson.

In 2013, Richardson received the National Entertainment Journalism Award for Online Criticism. From 2015 to 2020, he served on the board of the Bay Area Book Festival, for which he also organized and moderated panels on politics, history, music, and sports.

Books


 * Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo (University of California Press, 2022) https://www.google.com/books/edition/Savage_Journey/hplEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en
 * No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead (St. Martin's Press, 2015) https://www.google.com/books/edition/No_Simple_Highway/0E1ABAAAQBAJ?kptab=editions&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkrumw2pv2AhU5JEQIHcREBY8QmBZ6BAgDEAg
 * A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America (The New Press, 2009) https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Bomb_in_Every_Issue/5jf6K9MMcSUC?kptab=editions&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3l7SW2pv2AhXyD0QIHfgJDfoQmBZ6BAgLEAg
 * American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams (University of Michigan Press, 2005; University of California Press, 2019) https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Prophet/3zR8DwAAQBAJ?kptab=editions&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwinhq3L2pv2AhXnIEQIHTCRCl8QmBZ6BAgJEAg

External Links


 * Muck Rack, https://muckrack.com/peter-richardson-18
 * Peter Richardson: Stray Thoughts on California Culture, http://www.peterrichardson.blogspot.com

References