Hi! I’m a writer and author thinking about US history, labor, manufacturing, shipping, and the economy.

Fun facts:

I’ve written for leading publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Down East, Yankee, Boston Globe, and Boston magazine.

I did a solo motorcycle trip from Milan to Rome across the Apennines on a Ducati 620.

I’m the author of the bestseller Into the Raging Sea about the 2015 sinking of the American cargo ship El Faro during Hurricane Joaquin. The book was a NYT Notable Book and among NPR’s best books of the year. My second book, Making It in America, explores the history of manufacturing and labor in the United States.

I’ve never seen a whale, though trust me, I’ve tried.

I’ve held editorships at the Boston Globe and Boston magazine, and have taught political journalism at Tufts.

I can de-shell and consume an entire lobster in under four minutes.

In 2025, I was awarded a prestigious MacDowell Fellowship for nonfiction, where I worked on my first novel in a tricked-out cabin in the New Hampshire woods.

I scored a gold medal with the 1984 Canadian National Olympic men’s rowing team…as their coxswain.

I’m a screenwriter/producer with several documentary credits, including “The Great War” and “The League.” Ask me about World War I!

I once danced with Cher in a club in NYC.

I’ve got a BA in political science from Barnard College and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

Although I live in Boston with my record producer husband, two rescue cats, and a bevy of houseplants, my heart is in Maine.