I'm a journalist and have collaborated on ten non-fiction books, three best sellers, in a career of nearly three decades. In journalism, the subjects that have always interested me are poverty, the divide between rich and poor and unsung heroes. Ironically, I worked for six years at People magazine where I got to study the rich part of that pairing up close for cover stories. Since then I've focused my journalism more on the poor and their aspirations.
My 8000-word investigative story on real estate speculation in San Francisco (published in San Francisco magazine in December 2009) demonstrated how one aggressive family acquired hundreds of apartment buildings, tossed out 2500 rent-controlled tenants and, in the end, dragged the renters of San Francisco into the 2008 financial meltdown. This story was a finalist for the American Society of Magazine Editors award last year in the Public Affairs catagory.
The Gutter Punks story I'm seeking funding for through Spot.Us continues my interest in the effects of the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and what happens when so much of society's wealth is concentrated in the hands of so few.
