Background
Philip Reed was born on March 17, 1952, in Minneapolis, into the family of Thomas Biddington and Vivian (Odh) Reed. He has an older sister and two younger brothers.
Philip Reed was born on March 17, 1952, in Minneapolis, into the family of Thomas Biddington and Vivian (Odh) Reed. He has an older sister and two younger brothers.
In 1970 - 1973 Philip attended Dean Junior College in Franklin, and then he received Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of North Carolina in 1975.
Philip started his writing career as a police reporter in Chicago and Denver. For two years he worked the night shift covering murders, robberies, fires, bombings, train wrecks, freak accidents and suicides.
Then Philip moved to California and became a playwright, landed a job as a theater critic for The Hollywood Drama-Logue, and wrote one of the first episodes of "Miami Vice." His first novel, "Bird Dog", was published by Pocket Books. His other plays were "Boondoggle", "Vacancy in Paradise" and "Nightside." He also wrote for TV's "Beauty and the Beast" and "Probe." Later, he wrote many screenplays, some of which were optioned.
Later, Philip was hired by Edmunds.com to be an undercover car salesman and wrote the online sensation "Confessions of a Car Salesman." He is currently writing auto advice for the financial site NerdWallet.com, in San Francisco. He has also appeared on NPR and national television talking about cars.
When Philip was a kid he had trouble sleeping, so he read late into the night.
On August 11, 1979, Philip married Vivian Blackwell Swingle, with whom he has two sons: Andrew Wesley and Anthony Wilson Reed.