Christopher Andersen
Journalist | Writer
Christopher Peter Andersen (born May 26, 1949 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American journalist and the author of 35 books, including many bestsellers.
A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Andersen joined the staff of Time magazine as a contributing editor in 1969. From 1974 to 1986 Andersen was senior editor of Time Incorporated's People magazine. He has also written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, the New York Daily News, Life, and Vanity Fair.
Subject ID: 103776
MoreChristopher Peter Andersen (born May 26, 1949 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American journalist and the author of 35 books, including many bestsellers.
A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Andersen joined the staff of Time magazine as a contributing editor in 1969. From 1974 to 1986 Andersen was senior editor of Time Incorporated's People magazine. He has also written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, the New York Daily News, Life, and Vanity Fair.
While his early nonfiction books veered from psychology (The Name Game) to true crime (The Serpent's Tooth) to art collecting (The Best of Everything, with former Sotheby's chairman John L. Marion), he is best known for his controversial biographies. Between 1991 and 2011, he published 14 New York Times bestselling biographies. Two of these—The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died—went to No.1. Andersen's second book about the relationship of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie, was published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination and also became a Top 10 New York Times bestseller, followed by The Good Son: JFK Jr. and the Mother He Loved in 2014. In 2016, Game of Crowns was published to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday, becoming Andersen's 18th Times best seller.
Seven of Andersen's titles have also been selected for the Readers Digest Today's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year series. In November 2008, NBC's Brian Williams presented Andersen with a Joan's Legacy Award for excellence in journalism regarding lung cancer, along with Ladies Home Journal, which excerpted the portion of his book Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve describing Dana Reeve's battle with lung cancer. Madonna Unauthorized (1991) and The Day John Died (2000) were made into television films.
Andersen has made frequent appearances on TV programs such as the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, Larry King Live, The CBS Early Show, Dateline, Extra, The O'Reilly Factor, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, 48 Hours, Inside Edition, Anderson Cooper 360 and Hardball.
Married since 1972 to former international banker Valerie Hess, Andersen resides in Connecticut. They have two daughters — former Bloomberg News White House correspondent and bestselling author (The Residence, First Women) Katharine Andersen Brower (born 1980) and artist Kelly Andersen (born 1990). In April 2016, Andersen's Game of Crowns and Brower's First Women were published within days of each other. At one point, father and daughter occupied five positions on the Times hardcover, ebook, and combined ebook and hardcover lists.
Subject ID: 103776
Subject ID: 103776
