Fred Waitzkin

As a teenager in the late 50's, Fred Waitzkin wavered between wanting to spend his life as a fisherman, an Afro Cuban drummer, or a novelist. He went to Kenyon College and did graduate study at New York University. His early fiction was influenced by Jack Kerouac and Ernest Hemingway. His articles appeared in Esquire, New York magazine, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Outside, Sports Illustrated, among other publications. His memoir, Searching for Bobby Fischer, was made into a major motion picture released in 1993. His other books are Mortal Games, The Last Marlin, The Dream Merchant, Deep Water Blues. Strange Love and most recently, Anything Is Good, a novel based on the true story of a homeless friend. These days he reads and rereads the novels of Graham Green. Waitzkin lives in Manhattan with his wife, Bonnie, and has two children, Josh and Katya, and two grandsons, Jack and Charlie. He spends as much time as possible on the bridge of his old boat, Ebb Tide, trolling baits off distant islands with his family.