Mark Pendergrast

Last updated
Mark Pendergrast
Mark Pendergrast-04.jpg
Born1948
Alma mater Harvard College and Simmons College in Boston
OccupationAuthor
Notable work
  • The Most Hated Man in America: Jerry Sandusky and the Rush to Judgement

Mark Pendergrast (born 1948) is an American independent scholar and author of fourteen books, including three children's books. His books are mainly non-fiction and cover a wide range of topics, most notably repressed memories. He is a volunteer with the National Center for Reason and Justice, a non-profit organization that advocates for people who are falsely accused or convicted of crimes.

Contents

Early life and education

Pendergrast was born in 1948 to Nan and Britt Pendergrast, [1] the fourth of seven children. He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Harvard College, after which he taught for several years in public schools. Pendergrast later attended Simmons College in Boston, where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in Library Science. He worked as an academic librarian and freelance writer until becoming a full-time writer in 1991. Pendergrast lives in Colchester, Vermont. [2]

As a child during road trips with his family, Pendergrast would sing Broadway tunes harmonizing along with his older brother. Pendergrast currently sings in a Vermont choral group called Social Band. He puts poetry to music for concerts with the group and has written songs including “Donald Trump Satirical Song” which Pendergrast wrote several months before Donald Trump's election. [2] [3]

Career

Author

Pendergrast has published fourteen books on various topics.

Two are histories of caffeinated beverages: Coca-Cola (For God, Country and Coca-Cola) and coffee (Uncommon Grounds). Pendergrast states that he wrote For God, Country and Coca-Cola after literary agents moved to Vermont and wrote a letter to the League of Vermont Writers for book ideas. He also states that growing up in Atlanta, GA influenced his decision to write the book. His grandfather was a pharmacist who served some of the original Coca-Cola, which was originally sold as a health elixir. [4]

He has written extensively on the malleability of human memory in his books Memory Warp, The Repressed Memory Epidemic, Victims of Memory, and The Most Hated Man in America. Pendergrast states his most important work is Victims of Memory, which is about recovered memory therapy, a pseudoscientific therapeutic method that has resulted in false accusations of child sexual abuse. [4] He wrote Memory Warp, written twenty years after Victims of Memory, to document the continuation of recovered memory therapy beyond the 80s and 90s for new generations of journalists, therapists, and patients. [5] He is highly critical of Freud's methods in developing his theories in Memory Warp. [6]

His book on the Jerry Sandusky case, The Most Hated Man in America, was prompted by a 2013 email from an Oregon woman, named Glenna Kerker, who told him that the case had a lot of testimony based on repressed memory therapy. [7] Pendergrast wrote his original arguments for Sandusky's innocence in The Crime Report in 2016 while working on The Most Hated Man in America. [8] Freudian psychoanalysis critic, Frederick Crews, wrote an article in Skeptic magazine detailing the Sandusky case, primarily using arguments from The Most Hated Man in America. [9]

Joseph Stains reviews Pendergrast's 2017 book The Most Hated Man in America: Jerry Sandusky and the Rush to Judgement. Stain says it is "probably the most evenhanded and thoroughly documented volume on the topic". Pendergrast detailed the trial and did extensive research on the subject of Jerry Sandusky's 2012 guilty verdict for sexual abuse of young men at Penn State. Stains writes that Pendergrast made a compelling case that the small-town lawyer Sandusky chose to represent him and a prosecution that relied on repressed memories, no physical evidence and possible financial motives may have been the factors that led to the court finding him guilty. Stains states that Pendergrast "has done meticulous background work... and he provides material background for answering any question one may pose to him". [10]

Inside the Outbreaks is about the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Beth E. Meyerson describes the book as "a series of investigations presented in a rapid succession, bespeaking the range and pace of public health challenges facing this elite scientific corps of men and women," in a Environmental Health Perspectives book review article. [11] The book is divided into three sections, each of which covers a period of time in EIS history in chronological order. [12]

City of the Verge is a book about his hometown of Atlanta, GA. He named the book City on the Verge because of the anticipated influx of people into the city of Atlanta. According to Pendergrast, in 2017, the population within the city is expected to triple in the next 30 years. [13]

Japan’s Tipping Point investigates Japan's renewable energy policies after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Pendergrast spent six weeks in Japan for the book. [14]

Mirror, Mirror covers a wide range of subjects ranging from astronomy to human sexuality and vanity. [4]

Beyond Fair Trade is a book about the Akha hill tribe in Thailand that grows coffee rather than opium poppies after opium raids forced them to relocate in 1985. It also examines the history of the specialty coffee movement. [15]

His three children's books are Jack and the Bean Soup; Silly Sadie; and The Godfool. He has also appeared in several documentaries, including Black Coffee and Cola Conquest, which were in part inspired by his books. Pendergrast also helped to edit and publish The Aftermath: A Survivor’s Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe, a Holocaust memoir by Henry Lilienheim, Shift, poems by Marylen Grigas; Neighborhood Naturalist, by Nan Pendergrast; and For Love of the British Isles, by Nan Pendergrast.

Book reviewer

Pendergrast has also reviewed books for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . He has contributed articles to The Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , the Financial Analyst , The Sun , Vermont Life Magazine , Burlington Free Press , Vanguard, Sea History , Library Journal , Atlanta Magazine , Vermont Digger, Saporta Report, Fresh Cup, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, Business People, Professional Psychology , Wine Spectator , and other publications.

Public appearances

He has spoken at scientific and journalism seminars, book festivals, public events, and on college campuses and has appeared on various television and radio programs, including The Today Show , All Things Considered , Marketplace , and Fresh Air . He writes a semi-regular column about coffee for the Wine Spectator . [16]

Documentary appearances

He has been the featured interviewee in two documentary series inspired by his books, The Cola Conquest, directed by Irene Angelico and produced by Angelico and Abbey Neidik of DLI Productions, and Black Coffee, also directed by Irene Angelico.

Organizational affiliations

Pendergrast is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, the League of Vermont Writers, and the Authors Guild. He is a volunteer for the National Center for Reason and Justice, a nonprofit organization which works with innocent people falsely accused or convicted of child abuse (related to the subject of his book Memory Warp). [2] [16] [17] [18]

Published works

Non-fiction

Children's literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola</span> Carbonated soft drink

Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day. Coca-Cola ranked No. 87 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Based on Interbrand's "best global brand" study of 2020, Coca-Cola was the world's sixth most valuable brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stith Pemberton</span> American pharmacist, inventor of Coca-Cola (1831–1888)

John Stith Pemberton was an American pharmacist and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. On 8 May 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold its rights to the drink shortly before his death in 1888.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemberton's French Wine Coca</span> Coca wine by John Pemberton

Pemberton's French Wine Coca was a coca wine created by the druggist John Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola. It was an alcoholic beverage, mixed with coca, kola nut, and damiana. The original recipe contained the ingredient cocaethylene, which was removed, just like the alcohol had before it, in 1899 because of a social stigma surrounding the rampant use of cocaine at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola formula</span> Coca-Cola Companys recipe for Coca-Cola syrup

The Coca-Cola Company's formula for Coca-Cola syrup, which bottlers combine with carbonated water to create the company's flagship cola soft drink, is a closely guarded trade secret. Company founder Asa Candler initiated the veil of secrecy that surrounds the formula in 1891 as a publicity, marketing, and intellectual property protection strategy. While several recipes, each purporting to be the authentic formula, have been published, the company maintains that the actual formula remains a secret, known only to a very few select employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocacolonization</span> American culture globalization through American products

Cocacolonization refers to the globalization of American culture pushed through popular American products such as the soft-drink brand Coca-Cola. The term is a portmanteau of the name of the multinational soft-drink maker and "colonization".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cola wars</span> Soft drink marketing rivalry

The Cola wars are the long-time rivalry between soft drink producers The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, who have engaged in mutually-targeted marketing campaigns for the direct competition between each company's product lines, especially their flagship colas, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Beginning in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the competition escalated until it became known as the cola wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asa Griggs Candler</span> American business magnate

Asa Griggs Candler Sr. was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-Cola Company in 1892 and developed it as a major company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Steele</span> American soft drink businessman

Alfred Nu Steele was an American soft drink businessman most known for being the president and later chairman of the board of Pepsi-Cola Company from 1950 until his sudden death in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Coca-Cola Company</span> American multinational beverage corporation

The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It produces Coca-Cola. The drink industry company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. The company's stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of the DJIA and the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert W. Woodruff</span> American businessman (1889–1985)

Robert Winship Woodruff was an American businessman who served as the president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 until 1985. With a large net worth, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational and cultural landmarks in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia, bear his name. Included among these are the Woodruff Arts Center, Woodruff Park, and the Robert W. Woodruff Library.

Coca Cola Corporation was an Atlanta, Georgia company, the first large-scale manufacturer and marketer of beverages based on the Coca-Cola formula, and closely related to The Coca-Cola Company, the corporation that took on that role by 1900 and became a worldwide business.

Harold D. Hirsch was a student at the University of Georgia from 1898 to 1901 who also played football for his alma mater. After graduation from the University of Georgia, he studied law at Columbia University and later became general counsel for The Coca-Cola Company, serving in that capacity for more than thirty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Mason Robinson</span> Marketer and advertiser of Coca-Cola

Frank Mason Robinson was an important early marketer and advertiser of what became known as Coca-Cola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Cosby in advertising</span>

American comedian and actor Bill Cosby was a popular spokesperson for advertising from the 1960s – before his first starring television role – until the early 2000s. He started with White Owl cigars, and later endorsed the Jell-O frosty ice pop treats Pudding Pop, gelatin, Del Monte, Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, American Red Cross, Texas Instruments, E. F. Hutton & Co., Kodak, and the 1990 United States Census. As of 2002, Cosby held the record for being the longest-serving celebrity spokesperson for a product, through his work with Jell-O. In 2011, he won the President's Award for Contributions to Advertising from the Advertising Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Beall Candler Owens Heinz Leide</span>

Lucy Beall Candler Owens Heinz Leide was an American heiress. She was the only daughter of Asa Griggs Candler, the co-founder of The Coca-Cola Company.

White Coke was a clear variant of Coca-Cola produced in the 1940s at the request of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov. Like other clear colas, it had the same flavor as the original, virtually unchanged by the absence of caramel coloring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George P. Rowell</span>

George Presbury Rowell was an American advertising executive and publisher. He founded Printers' Ink, the first advertising trade magazine, in 1888.

Charles Howard Candler Sr. was an American businessman and author. He was one of the few people that his father, Asa Candler, first trusted with the secret formula used to make Coca-Cola, which then included coca leaves.

Irene Lilienheim Angelico is a Canadian film director, producer and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of John Stith Pemberton</span>

The John Stith Pemberton statue is a public statue in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Located in Pemberton Place, near the World of Coca-Cola, the statue is of John Stith Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola.

References

  1. Mirror Mirror: a history of the human love affair with reflection. Basic Books. 1 July 2003. ISBN   9780786729906.
  2. 1 2 3 "markprendergrast". nsw.org.
  3. Pendergrast, Mark (14 January 2016). "Donald Trump Satirical Song". youtube.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Stoddard, Fran. "Mark Pendergrast". PBS. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  5. Haselton, Lisa. "Interview with writer Mark Pendergrast". Lisa Haselton Book Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  6. Rhoads, Zach (3 January 2018). "Young Justice: The Myth of Repressed Memory". Town Meeting TV. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. Lamberg, Lynne. "Mark Pendergrast: The Most Hated Man in America". National Association of Science Writers. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  8. Pendergrast, Mark. "Why Jerry Sandusky May Be Innocent". The Crime Report. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  9. Crews, Frederick (3 January 2018). "Trial by Therapy: The Jerry Sandusky Case Revisited". Skeptic. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  10. Joseph, Stains (2018). "Reconsidering Monsters". Skeptical Inquirer. 42 (3). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry: 62–63.
  11. Meyerson, Beth E. (2011). "Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service". Environmental Health Perspectives. 119 (1): A44. PMC   3018522 .
  12. Racaniello, Vincent (2 August 2010). "Inside the outbreaks: The elite medical detectives of the epidemic intelligence service". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 120 (8): 2645. doi:10.1172/JCI43893 . Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  13. "City on the Verge". C-SPAN. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  14. Harrington, Margaret (8 March 2013). "Japan's Tipping Point: Will Japan Become Nuclear Free?". Fairewinds Energy Education. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  15. Torti, Jules. "Review: Coffee a force for good in Thailand". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Mark Pendergrast - Home". Mark Pendergrast. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  17. Pendergrast, Mark. "Recap of Into the Words". League of Vermont Writers. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  18. "New Books by Members (Archive)". The Authors Guild. Retrieved 23 November 2020.