Howard Blum

Not to be confused with Howard Bloom.

Howard Blum (/ˈblʌm/) (born 1948) is an American author and journalist. Formerly a reporter for The Village Voice^[1] and The New York Times, Blum is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair^[2][3] and the author of several non-fiction books, including the New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award winner American Lightning.^[4]

Howard Blum
Born	1948 (age 76–77)
Occupation	Author
Language	English
Nationality	American
Education	Horace Mann School
Alma mater	Stanford University
Genre	Non-fiction
Notable works	American Lightning
Notable awards	Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime, 2009
Spouse	Jane Davenport "Jenny" Cox (m. 1991; div.)
Children	Tony Anna Dani
Website
www.howardblum.com

Career

In 1986, Blum began working as a reporter for the New York Times, where he earned two Pulitzer Prize nominations.^[2] Since 1994, Blum has been a contributing editor to Vanity Fair.^[2] Several of his books were non-fiction bestsellers, including Gangland, Wanted, The Gold of Exodus, and The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and WWII.^[3] Additionally, a number of his works have been optioned for film.^[2] Miramax Films purchased the rights from Blum for six figures to turn The Brigade into a major motion picture, although it seems the movie was never made.^[3][5]

Personal life

Blum is the son of Harold K. Blum (1917–1984), an executive at the Kane Miller Corporation in Tarrytown, New York,^[6][7][8] and Gertrude Blum, a schoolteacher in New York City.^[6] For high school, Blum attended the Horace Mann School and earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, where he also received an M.A. in government in 1970.^[1][6] In January 1991, he married Jenny Cox, a book editor.^[6] They are divorced. He currently resides in Sag Harbor, New York and Connecticut.^[2][9] Howard is the brother of celebrity wedding planner Marcy Blum.

Bibliography

• Wanted! The Search for Nazis in America (1977), New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., ISBN 0812906071
• Wishful Thinking (1985), New York: Atheneum Books, ISBN 0689115431
• I Pledge Allegiance--: The True Story of the Walkers: An American Spy Family (1987), New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0671626140
• Out There: The Government's Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials (1990), New York, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0671662600
• Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob (1993), New York: Pocket Books, ISBN 0671900153
• The Gold of Exodus: The Discovery of the True Mount Sinai (1998), New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0684809184
• The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and World War II (2001), New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 0060194863
• The Eve of Destruction: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War (2003), New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 0060013990
• American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century (2008), New York: Crown Publishers, ISBN 0307346943
• The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush (2011), New York: Crown Publishers, ISBN 0307461726
• Dark Invasion: 1915: Germany’s Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America (2014), New York: Crown Publishers, ISBN 0307461750
• The Last Goodnight: A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure, and Betrayal (2016), HarperCollins, ISBN 0062307673
• In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies (2018), HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0062458248
• Night of the Assassins: The Untold Story of Hitler's Plot to Kill FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (2020), HarperCollins Publishers.
• The Spy Who Knew Too Much: An Ex-CIA Officer's Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal (2022), HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 9780063054219
• When the Night Comes Falling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders (2024), HarperCollins Publishers

See also