Erik Schmidt

A former magazine editor and senior marketing writer, Erik Schmidt holds an MFA in creative nonfiction and writes extensively in aviation, technology, education, the nonprofit sector, and history. Aviation has always been his research passion, especially related to the history of the Cold War (a context he's exploring more in his second book). His first book, "Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace," is a forthright exploration of a complicated and compelling life. In it, he uses historical characters not as excuses to make black-and-white declarations, but as case studies in the complexity and ambiguity that are so natural in history.