Michael Capuzzo

Background

Michael Capuzzo was born on May 1, 1957, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He is the son of William John and Elizabeth Capuzzo.

Education

In 1979 Michael Capuzzo received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.

Career

Upon graduation, Michael Capuzzo's career took off with a job at the Miami Herald in Florida. There he was a staff and features writer from 1979 through 1986. He moved to Pennsylvania for a job with the Philadelphia Inquirer. Capuzzo was a feature writer for the Inquirer from 1986 to 1994. While working in Philadelphia, Capuzzo received four Pulitzer Prize nominations for his feature writing with the Inquirer. While still at the Philadelphia Inquirer Capuzzo began writing about pets and other non-domestic animals in a column titled "Wild Things." The column was eventually syndicated and appeared in more than forty newspapers across America, opening a new career niche for the author.

Capuzzo's first nonfiction work, Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence, was published in 2001. It is the story of a great white shark that terrorized the New Jersey shore in the summer of 1916, killing four people throughout the summer. Capuzzo later adapted Close to Shore for young adults in 2003, published as Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916. He also has published Mutts: America's Dogs (1996). This lighthearted title encourages dog lovers to see the benefits of owning mixed-breed dogs. It includes anecdotes about working and companion mutts, as well as advice on which mixed breeds to search for as substitutes for less healthy purebreds.

His other works include Our Best Friends: Wagging Tales to Warm the Heart (1998), Cat Caught My Heart: Purrfect Tales of Wisdom, Hope, and Love (1998), and The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases (2010). He is a contributor to Sharks: Stories of Life and Death from the World's Most Dangerous Waters (2002). He is also a contributor to national magazines, including Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Reader's Digest, TV Guide, Wall Street Journal, and Philadelphia Magazine.

Achievements

• Michael Capuzzo is best known as the author of Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence and The Murder Room. Four-time-Pulitzer Prize nominee he has won countless awards for his writing, including the National Headliner Award and the Sunday Magazine Editors' Association award for the best magazine story.

Works

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• book

  • The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Homes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases

    (Documents the efforts of the Vidocq Society, an elite tri...)

    2010
  • Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence

    (Combining rich historical detail and a harrowing, pulse-p...)

    2001
  • Cat Caught My Heart: Stories of Wisdom, Hope, and Purrfect Love

    (In this captivating and heartwarming book, America's prem...)

    1998
  • Our Best Friends: Wagging Tales to Warm the Heart

    (In this delightful and heartwarming book, America's premi...)

    1998
  • Wild Things

    (Where Noah's job ended, Mike Capuzzo's work begins! Anima...)

    1995
  • Mutts: America's Dogs 1996

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  basketball

Connections

In 1997 Michael Capuzzo married Teresa Banik, a writer. He has two children from his first marriage: Grace, Julia.

Father:

William John Capuzzo

Mother:

Elizabeth Capuzzo

Spouse:

Teresa Banik Capuzzo

Daughter:

Grace Capuzzo

Daughter:

Julia Capuzzo

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2004