Background

Debbie Nathan was born on August 27, 1950 in Houston, Texas, United States.

Education

Debbie Nathan learned Spanish while studying at school. She attended Shimer College (currently the Shimer School of Great Books, the part of North Central College). She then entered Temple University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972. It was followed by a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from the University of Texas El Paso six years later.

Career

Debbie Nathan began her career as a teacher of English as a second language at Brooklyn College. In 1980, she relocated to Chicago. Soon after the relocation, she joined the staff of the Chicago Reader as a journalist and held that post till 1984 when she moved to El Paso. After serving in the El Paso Times, Nathan concentrated on her freelance journalistic career.

In 1988, Debbie Nathan began writing for the San Antonio Current. At that time, Nathan was the pioneer analyzing the questions of the "ritual sex abuse" panic.

The first book by Debbie Nathan, 'Women and Other Aliens' was published in 1991. The volume covered many different issues affecting women along the southern United States border, including their underpayment and underinsurance by businesses, as well as other examples of their exploitation and vulnerability. Nathan presented a picture of the lives of border women by mixing personal accounts of the mostly El Paso/Juarez women with statistical research.

In 1995, Nathan teamed up with Michael Snedeker, a criminal lawyer who has defended many accused of ritual abuse in California, to write 'Satan’s Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt', a response to a wave of ritual abuse cases in the United States.

Since 2000, Debbie has been living in New York City. In 2003, she was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 'Capturing the Friedmans'. The next book by Nathan, 'Pornography', saw publication in 2007.

In her recent publication, a 2011 book 'Sybil Exposed', Debbie Nathan used a famous story about the psychiatric patient "Sybil".

Debbie Nathan has also contributed to many periodicals such as The Village Voice, The Texas Observer, Redbook, The Nation, The Chicago Reader, The New York Times and Vibe.

Achievements

• Debbie Nathan is an accomplished journalist and author whose investigative reporting in the domain of criminal justice helped many people, falsely accused or sentenced to death, get an absolutory sentence or mitigate the punishment.
  
  Nathan has been a recipient of such awards as H.L. Mencken Award for Investigative Journalism, PEN West Award for Journalism, the Texas Institute of Letters Award for feature journalism, the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for Journalism, and the John Bartlow Martin Award from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism for Public Service Journalism.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Pornography

    (The book considers why adults are so concerned with young...)

    2007
  • Women and Other Aliens: Essays from the U.S.- Mexican Border

    (A collection of essays dealing with the desires and strug...)

    1991
  • Sybil Exposed

    (The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Person...)

    2012
  • Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse And The Making Of A Modern American Witch Hunt

    (The book is written by Debbie Nathan and Mike Snedeker.)

    1995

• translation

  • The Moon Will Forever Be a Distant Love

    (A magical recipe of contemporary Mexico mixed with the Sp...)

    1997

Membership

Debbie Nathan has been associated with the National Center for Reason and Justice as its board member. She is a member of the National Writers Union as well.

Connections

Debbie Nathan is married to Morten Naess. The family produced two children named Sophia and Willy.

husband:

Morten Naess

Daughter:

Sophia

Son:

Willy

colleague:

Michael Snedeker

References

• Debbie Nathan Official Website