Elinor Burkett | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1946-10-09)October 9, 1946 (age 78) Philadelphia, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh(PhD, Latin American History, 1975) Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism(Master's degree, 1988) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, author, biographer |
Elinor Burkett (born October 9, 1946) is an American journalist, author, film producer, and documentary director.
A film produced by her,Music by Prudence, won the 2009Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) on March 7, 2010.
In 1975, Burkett graduated from theUniversity of Pittsburgh with a doctorate inLatin American History.[1][2] In 1988, Burkett earned a master's degree from theColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[3]
Burkett was a history professor atFrostburg State University inFrostburg, Maryland for 13 years. In a dramatic turn, she gave up her tenure to get a Masters at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[4] She was a staff writer for theMiami Herald from 1988 to 1992[5] and she has been published by leading publications such asThe New York Times Magazine,Rolling Stone andHarper's Bazaar. She has heldFulbright professorships in bothKyrgyzstan andZimbabwe and received numerous awards and grants for her work as a historian and writer. She also chaired the Department of Journalism of theUniversity of Alaska-Fairbanks.[6][7]
She authored her first book in 1993, written withFrank Bruni. InA Gospel of Shame : Children, Sexual abuse and the Catholic Church the pair explored the incidences ofCatholic sex abuse cases. Two years later she wroteThe Gravest Show on Earth : America in the Age of AIDS. Burkett offered a scorching criticism of the 'AIDS industry' for greed, self-promotion and putting politics over prevention.[8]
In 1997, she again collaborated with Bruni onConsumer Terrorism : How to Get Satisfaction When You're Being Ripped Off. A year later she collaborated withSusan Molinari onRepresentative Mom: Balancing Budgets, Bill, and Baby in the U.S. Congress.[9] In the same year she challenged her own liberal feminist beliefs by interviewing conservative women forThe Right Women : a Journey through the Heart of Conservative America.[10]
In 2000'sThe Baby Boon : How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless, she attacked the US government and industry for pro-family initiatives that leaves the nation's childless paying the price.[11] A year later she released her study of an American high school,Another Planet : a Year in the Life of a Suburban High School.[12]
In 2004 she wroteSo Many Enemies, So Little Time. An American Woman in All the Wrong Places... She related to her time inKyrgyzstan where she moved in 2001 as a Fulbright Professor teaching journalism at the Kyrgyz-Russo Slavonic University. That same year, in the wake of 9–11, she travelled across all the -stans, as well as Iran, Iraq, Russia, China, Mongolia, and IndoChina.[13]
In 2004 Burkett also co-directedIs It True What They Say About Ann, a documentary about the right-wing commentatorAnn Coulter.[14]
Four years later, she wrote her first biography, about the late Israeli Prime Minister,Golda Meir. In the book Burkett vindicated Meir for her role in theYom Kippur War, stressing that far greater responsibility lay with theIsraeli Defense Minister,Moshe Dayan.[15]
A film that she was involved in the production of,Music by Prudence, won the 2009Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). She was removed from production of the documentary a year earlier, resulting in a lawsuit and out of court settlement. It caused a media frenzy when, in the midst of the televised Oscar ceremony, the82nd Academy Awards, she interrupted the acceptance speech of producer and directorRoger Ross Williams. It was widely touted as the "Kanye Moment" of that year's Oscars, referring to theKanye West incident at the2009 MTV Video Music Awards.[16]
Burkett divides her time between New York and her home inBulawayo,Zimbabwe, where she trains journalists, writes and makes films.[6][7]
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