Dale Van Atta is a New York Times best selling author and journalist who has been nominated five times for the Pulitzer Prize.
For more than a decade, he co authored the world’s most widely-syndicated news column with Jack Anderson; their daily column appeared in the Washington Post and nearly 1,000 other newspapers, reaching 50 million readers. In fact, his name was once a clue in a New York Times crossword puzzle. Van Atta’s chief goal as an investigative journalist was to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable — especially unethical national legislators and presidential administration officials.
Van Atta was a long time Roving Editor for Reader’s Digest, and has been published in numerous other national publications. He has appeared on a variety of national television news shows and is an accomplished lecturer with speeches delivered in more than 40 states and 17 countries.
Van Atta has reported from all seven continents, including coverage of several wars. He has interviewed U.S. Congressional members, business icons, top military commanders, terrorists, and spies, as well as notable world leaders and six United States presidents.
His biographies have included hotelier Bill Marriott (Success Is Never Final); Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf (Stormin’ Norman: An American Hero); former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird (With Honor).
While a student at Brigham Young University, he wrote the world’s fastest novel in a store window — 230 pages in 30 hours — as a fund raiser for a new library.
Van Atta lives in Ashburn, Va., with his wife of 47 years, Lynne. They have three children: Tara, Dylan and Kate, and five grandchildren.