Penguin Speakers Bureau

Biography

Frank Bruni was named an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in June 2011. Before that, he was the paper’s chief restaurant critic for five and a half years. Since joining the Times in 1995, he has also been the Rome bureau chief, a White House correspondent, the lead reporter covering George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, a staff writer for the The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and a cocktails columnist. His restaurant-related articles for the Times and elsewhere have appeared in five consecutive editions of Best Food Writing in America. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for his work before the Times at the Detroit Free Press. He lives in New York City.

Speaking Topics

• Politics

  Throughout his career at the Times, Frank has been a political reporter, and he frequently comments about American politics in his current twice-weekly Op-Ed column, delving into voter habits, politicians' psyches, and more. He can speak about the state of American politics, the nature and nuttiness of American campaigns, and the shortcomings and strengths of our system. From 1999 to 2001, he covered George W. Bush's presidential campaign and White House, and he wrote the New York Times-bestselling Ambling into History: the Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush.

• The First Openly Gay Op-Ed Columnist for the New York Times

  When Frank was named an Op-Ed columnist in June 2011, he became the first openly gay or lesbian person in that post in the Times' 160-year history, and he has written about gay issues in his column. He can speak about the fight for gay marriage, about gay rights in general, and about being an openly gay man on the front lines of American journalism. He covered a president who knew he was gay; he wrote restaurant reviews that were sometimes analyzed through the prism of his sexual orientation. He can also discuss the ways, and degrees, by which many workplaces (as exemplified by the New York Times) welcome their openly LGBT employees.

• Born Round

  Frank discusses some of the themes explored in his New York Times bestselling book Born Round: childhood obesity; diet and fitness; the restaurant industry; the restaurant scene, and being the New York Times restaurant critic.

• Life as the New York Times Restaurant Critic

  The life of, and behind the scenes with, the person who held the most influential restaurant critic post in the land for five and a half years.

• An Extraordinary Journalistic Adventure

  Frank takes the audience on a lively journey through his varied, versatile career that has spanned movie coverage, Vatican reporting, the presidential campaign trail, and restaurant criticism. From flying on the Pope’s plane, to sitting on the back porch in Kennebunkport with George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, to dining with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, to riding in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle across Saddam Hussein’s Iraq for several days, Frank’s career has run a fascinating gamut.

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