Richard Preston (born August 5, 1954) is a writer forThe New Yorker and bestselling author who has written books aboutinfectious disease,bioterrorism,redwoods and other subjects, as well as fiction.

Preston was born inCambridge, Massachusetts. He graduatedWellesley High School in Massachusetts in 1972 and attendedPomona College in Claremont, California. He earned a Ph.D. in English fromPrinceton University in 1983.

His 1992New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone" was expanded into his breakout book,The Hot Zone (1994). It is classified as a "non-fiction thriller" aboutebolaviruses. He learned ofEbola through such contacts asU.S. Army researchers Drs.C.J. Peters and Nancy Jaax. His fascination began during a visit to Africa where he was an eyewitness to epidemics. The book served as the (very loose) basis of the Hollywood movieOutbreak (1995) about military machinations surrounding a fictional "Motaba virus".

Preston's novelThe Cobra Event (1998), about a terrorism release of a fictional virus combining various qualities of different diseases upon New York City, alarmed even then-PresidentBill Clinton who, shortly after reading it, instigated a review of bio-terror threats to the U.S.^[1] The book strove to tell a fast-paced thriller narrative within the bounds of well-researched bio-terrorism possibility, and was reportedly pressed upon Clinton by a molecular biologist when he was attending aRenaissance Weekend event.^[2]

The Demon in the Freezer (2002) covers the story of the eradication ofsmallpox, perhaps the most destructive virus to have plagued mankind. It details the survival of the virus in research labs and bio-weapon programs of Russia and other nations, despite its eradication in the human population. The narrative continues withanthrax, a bacterial disease of cattle and humans, used in the2001 anthrax attacks.

Preston's personal hobby ofrecreational tree climbing is introduced inThe Wild Trees (2007).^[3] His climbing experience likely led him to write about the largest knownredwoods likeLost Monarch in theGrove of Titans, orIluvatar, described in that book along with delicate forest canopy ecosystems.

Preston'sPanic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science is a collection of essays related to his experiences researching his previous books.

In November 2009, Preston was selected byHarper-Collins and theMichael Crichton estate to complete his unfinished novelMicro after Crichton's death in November 2008. The book was released on November 22, 2011. Approximately a third ofMicro was completed by Crichton. Preston completed the book according to the author's remaining outline, notes, and research.^[4]

In 2016, Preston served as the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor at theUniversity of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program^[5] where he judged the prestigious Iowa Prize in Literary Nonfiction.

Preston resides inHopewell, New Jersey, with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters and one son.^[6] He is also the brother of best-selling authorDouglas Preston.

Minor planet3792 Preston is named in his honor.^[7]

• 1997:The Cobra Event. New York:Random House. November 1997.ISBN 0-679-45714-3., orCobra's Eye
• 2003:The Boat of Dreams: A Christmas Story. illus. George Henry Jennings. New York:Simon & Schuster. 2003.ISBN 0-7432-4592-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• 2011:Micro. HarperCollins. November 22, 2011.ISBN 978-0-06-087302-8. Co-written withMichael Crichton; completed after Crichton's death.

Articles

• Preston, Richard (December 3, 2012)."The Talk of the Town: Gone South: Flight of the Dragonflies".The New Yorker. Vol. 88, no. 38. pp. 40, 42. RetrievedDecember 10, 2014.

Nature

• 2007:The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring. New York: Random House. 2007.ISBN 978-1-4000-6489-2.

Science

• 2008:Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science. New York: Random House. 2008.ISBN 978-1-4000-6490-8.

True events

• 1987:First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe. New York:Atlantic Monthly Press. 1987.ISBN 9780871132000;OCLC 16004290
• 1991:American Steel: Hot Metal Men and the Resurrection of the Rust Belt. New York:Prentice Hall Press. 1991.ISBN 0-13-029604-X.
• 1994:The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus. New York: Random House. 1994.ISBN 0-679-43094-6.
• 2002:The Demon in the Freezer: The Terrifying Truth about the Threat from Bioterrorism. New York: Random House. January 2002.ISBN 0-375-50856-2.
• 2019:Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come. New York: Random House. 2019.ISBN 978-0-8129-9883-2.

• Richard Preston atIMDb
• Video conversation with Preston andCarl Zimmer onBloggingheads.tv
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 20th-century American novelists
• 21st-century American novelists
• American science writers
• American male novelists
• The New Yorker people
• The New Yorker staff writers
• People from Hopewell, New Jersey
• Pomona College alumni
• 1954 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American male writers
• 21st-century American male writers
• Wellesley High School alumni
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• 21st-century American non-fiction writers
• American male non-fiction writers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2021
• Articles with hCards
• CS1 maint: others
• People appearing on C-SPAN