Ben Yagoda

Ben Yagoda (born February 22, 1954) is an American writer and educator. He is a professor of journalism and English at the University of Delaware.

Ben Yagoda
Yagoda speaking at the Third Coast Audio Festival, 21 October 2005
Born	(1954-02-22) February 22, 1954 (age 71) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Yale University; University of Pennsylvania
Notable credit(s)	The New Leader, The New York Times, Newsweek, Rolling Stone

Early life and education

Born in New York City to Louis Yagoda (1909–1990), a labor mediator and arbitrator with the New York State Mediation Board, visiting lecturer at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and a former organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and Harriet (née Lewis),^[1][2] he grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He entered Yale University to study English in 1971 and graduated in 1976 with a bachelor of arts. He later earned an M.A. in American civilization at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1991.^[3]

Career

He became a freelance journalist for publications such as The New Leader, The New York Times, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone. He has published a number of books including About Town: The New Yorker and the World it Made.

Besides his work as a journalism and English professor at the University of Delaware, Yagoda also writes occasionally for a New York Times blog about the English language.^[4]

He currently has a monthly podcast called The Lives They're Living with Ben Yagoda.

Personal life

Yagoda resides in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, with his wife. They have two daughters.

Selected bibliography

• Will Rogers: A Biography (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993, ISBN 0-394-58512-7)
• The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism (Scribner, 1997, ISBN 0-684-83041-8), co-edited with Kevin Kerrane
• About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made (Scribner, 2000, ISBN 0-684-81605-9)
• The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing (HarperResource, 2004, ISBN 0-066-21417-3)
• When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse (Broadway Books, 2007, ISBN 0-767-92077-5)
• Memoir: A History (Riverhead Books, 2008, ISBN 1-594-48886-X)
• How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and How to Avoid Them (Riverhead Books, 2013, ISBN 1-594-48848-7)
• The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song (Riverhead Books, 2015, ISBN 1-594-48849-5)