Patricia Pearson
Encyclopedia
Patricia Pearson is a Canadian
writer and journalist. She's published three non-fiction books and two novels.
, Pearson is one of five children of Canadian diplomat Geoffrey Pearson
and former Ontario Senator Landon Pearson
, and the granddaughter of former Prime Minister
Lester Pearson. She was educated at Netherwood School in Rothesay, New Brunswick
, Trinity College, Toronto
, the University of Chicago
, and Columbia School of Journalism in New York.
Pearason has written for magazines such as The New Yorker
, Toronto Life
, Reader's Digest
and Business Week. Her newspaper work has appeared in The Globe and Mail
, The Toronto Star, The New York Times
, National Post
, The Guardian
, and The Daily Telegraph
. She's also written for CBC Television
, The History Channel and TVOntario
.
Pearson resigned her weekly column at the National Post in 2003 to protest that newspaper's support for the Bush administration in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Her subsequent satirical writing has been hailed as "hysterically funny" by the Los Angeles Times
and “highly amusing” by the New York Times.
Pearson has lived in New York
, Delhi
and Moscow
, and now resides in Toronto, Ontario with her husband and two children.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
writer and journalist. She's published three non-fiction books and two novels.
Life and work
Born in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Pearson is one of five children of Canadian diplomat Geoffrey Pearson
Geoffrey Pearson
Geoffrey Arthur Holland Pearson, OC was a Canadian diplomat and author. Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was the son of former Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson and Maryon Pearson....
and former Ontario Senator Landon Pearson
Landon Pearson
Landon Carter "Lucy" Pearson, OC, B.A., M.Ed. is a former Canadian senator and a children's rights advocate. She is the daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Lester B...
, and the granddaughter of former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Lester Pearson. She was educated at Netherwood School in Rothesay, New Brunswick
Rothesay, New Brunswick
Rothesay is a Canadian town located in Kings County, New Brunswick. It is a bedroom community of Saint John along the Kennebecasis River.Located along the lower Kennebecasis River valley, Rothesay borders the city of Saint John to the southwest, and the neighbouring town of Quispamsis to the...
, Trinity College, Toronto
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
, the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and Columbia School of Journalism in New York.
Pearason has written for magazines such as The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Toronto Life
Toronto Life
Toronto Life is a monthly Canadian magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Life also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including Home Decor, Stylebook, Eating & Drinking, Real Estate and Weddings. Established in 1966,...
, Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
and Business Week. Her newspaper work has appeared in The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, The Toronto Star, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. She's also written for CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
, The History Channel and TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
.
Pearson resigned her weekly column at the National Post in 2003 to protest that newspaper's support for the Bush administration in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Her subsequent satirical writing has been hailed as "hysterically funny" by the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and “highly amusing” by the New York Times.
Pearson has lived in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and now resides in Toronto, Ontario with her husband and two children.
Novels
- Playing House (2003) Random House Canada
- Believe Me (2005) Random House Canada
Non-fiction
- When She Was Bad: How and Why Women Get Away with Murder (1998) Viking USA, Virago UK, Random House Canada
- Area Woman Blows Gasket (2005) Vintage Canada
- A Brief History of Anxiety - Yours and Mine (2008) Bloomsbury USA, New YorkA Brief History of Anxiety (Yours & Mine)A Brief History of Anxiety is a 2008 nonfiction book by Canadian journalist and author Patricia Pearson...
Awards
- 1994 National Magazine Award (Honourable mention, Science, Health and Medicine category, for "Murder on her Mind")
- 1995 National Magazine Award (Gold, Essay category, for "Behind Every Successful Psychopath")
- 1998 National Magazine Award (Gold, One-of-a-kind Articles category, for "Death Becomes Her")
- 1996 National Author's Award
- 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for best non-fiction crime book
- 2004 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for HumourStephen Leacock Memorial Medal for HumourThe Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour is an annual literary award presented to the best work of humorous literature in English by a Canadian writer. The award is a tribute to well-known Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock , and is accompanied by a cash prize of $15,000...
, finalist