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I was a reporter at newspapers and magazines for 30 years, most recently at the Los Angeles Times where I was a national reporter based in L.A. In various newspaper jobs I’ve covered county zoning boards, state legislatures, and the culture of the Los Angeles Police Department. I’ve specialized in long-term projects, often immersing myself in an assignment for months or occasionally years. I’ve written on an enormous range of subjects: radical Islam; the financing, design and construction of skyscrapers; the search for a rare blood molecule; the California Dream; and growing coffee in Indonesia among them. I try to write stories that are heavily reported, textured, place-based and complex, written in a strong, distinctive voice. I’ve won numerous journalism awards from a variety of organizations, including those that honor writing about economics, science and foreign affairs.
I’m a native of Iowa. In addition to journalism, I have worked as a carpenter, a political campaign manager and an interpreter of satellite reconnaissance imagery in the U.S. Air Force. I have a graduate degree in urban studies. While a metro columnist at the Seattle Times, I published a serial mystery novel about the disappearance of Bill Gates. I live in southern California.
BOOKS
PERFECT SOLDIERS – The Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It, HarperCollin, 2005.
101 THEORY DRIVE: A Scientist’s Pursuit of Memory Pantheon, April, 2010.
THE HUNT FOR KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, co-authored by Josh Meyer, Little Brown March, 2012.
OFF SPEED: Baseball, Pitching and the Art of Deception, Pantheon, May, 2017.
8 thoughts on “About Me”
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Terry, thank you for your fantastic LA Times article regarding KSM, which I read twice and have been busy forwarding. You manage to make me laugh and your writing is wonderful.
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I am a historian in Portland writing a history of THE OREGONIAN. Roger Simpson quoted you in PACIFIC NORTHWEST in May 1988 about the O’s 16-inch restriction when you worked there. What your years on The O?
I’d love to hear more about your experiences at the Big O.
Cordially,
Harry H. Stein-
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Hi
Sorry I’m late to this. Just saw it.
I only worked at the Oregonian for one year – 1983-84. I arrived with the merger from the Oregon Journal, where I worked from 1980-83. We viewed the Oregonian as the enemy and the merger of the two staffs was problematic. The styles and cultures of the two places were nearly opposites. For better or worse, I embodied the Journal’s more personal and casual ethos.
First day on the job at the Oregonian I got into a shouting match with Judd Randall, the metro editor, in the middle of the newsroom. Good times ensued. If you want to talk, it’s easier to reach me at terrymcdermott@verizon.net.
Good luck with your project.
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Hi Terry,
You may not remember this, but you wrote an article about my POD MOD electric power project in 1993 while you were up here in Seattle at the Seattle Times.
Well, the project is now successfully finished and is in Beta testing, and I thought that you might be interested in that.
Also, because the unit has so many uses, I’m not going to take up space here, so if your interested – drop me an email and I’ll fill you in.
It accomplishes much more than back then.
I never got a chnace to thank you for the article you wrote back then — so thank you now.Yours,
Scott McKie — scotsman7@comcast.net
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Hi Terry! I have got the documentary
The 9/11 Hijackers Inside the Hamburg Cell. I bet I have watched it 10 times lol. I just really enjoyed it and wanted to say I think you done a fantastic job on this film. I think you are a very nice looking man and I just wanted to say hello.
Becky Crosby-
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Thanks!
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I just read your article about KMS. (“My 20-year Chase for the Story of the Man called. KMS”). It was very sobering and at times chilling. I really appreciate investigative reporting. Thank you for your work.
I recall Billy Graham Sr. words at the 9/11 Memorial Service that there is a mystery of evil that is not easily understood. Sounds like KSM at his core is an ego maniac like Hitler?
Retired First Grade Teacher
Costa Mesa, CA
Thanks for reading.