John A. Farrell

John A. Farrell (www.jafarrell.com) graduated from the University of Virginia "with distinction" in 1975 and embarked on a prize-winning career as a newspaperman, most notably for The Denver Post and The Boston Globe. He covered every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2012, parts of two wars and the troubles in Northern Ireland. He moved to Washington for the Globe and served as White House correspondent and Washington editor. He has also driven an ice cream truck, shined shoes, waited tables, cared for the animals in a medical laboratory, worked as a construction worker, labored on an Israeli kibbutz and served as a gallery guard at the Masters golf tournament. He has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In 2001 he published "Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century," a biography of the late Speaker of the House which won the Hardeman prize for the best book on Congress. An excerpt was included in "Pols: Great Writers on American Politicians," a 2004 anthology edited by Jack Beatty. Farrell's biography of the great American defense lawyer, "Clarence Darrow: Attorney For The Damned," won the 2012 Los Angeles Times book award for the best biography of the year. His last book, "Richard Nixon: The Life" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His new book, "Ted Kennedy: A Life," was a long list finalist for the National Book Award.