Mark Nykanen

Mark Nykanen is an American novelist and journalist. Nykanen began his career as a journalist for New Times Weekly in Phoenix, before becoming a news director at KDKB radio and news anchor for Arizona PBS. He then received four Emmy awards for his work as an on-air correspondent at NBC News; an Edgar Allan Poe Award for writing the NBC documentary Silent Shame: The Sexual Abuse of Children; and shared a Dupont-Columbia Award for Investigative Journalism. After NBC, Nykanen served as the Press Secretary for California Governor Jerry Brown’s 1992 campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. He later became an author, publishing five novels under his own name and two under the pseudonym James Jaros.

Mark Nykanen
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipAmerican and Canadian
OccupationWriter
Spouse(s)Lucinda Taylor
AwardsEdgar Award
Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award
Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism
Websitewww.marknykanen.com

Early life

Mark Nykanen spent his childhood years in Arizona.[1] During the Vietnam War period, he became a war resister.[2] He attended college but did not graduate.[3]

Journalism

During the 1970s Nykanen was a reporter for Phoenix’s New Times Weekly.[3] One of his first prominent news investigations was into the Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence, where his undercover work saw him banned from the facility,[1] and his articles clipped from newspapers before they were distributed to the inmates, in an attempt to suppress his discoveries. His prison reporting contributed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigation of the inhumane conditions of prisons in Arizona.[3] Nykanen then became an on-air news reporter and news director for KDKB radio in Phoenix,[4][5] and he was later the news anchor for the Arizona Weekly television broadcast on KAET.[6] During this time he received several Arizona Press Club Awards in print, radio, and television, including an investigation into the Arizona Revenue Department that led to the resignation of several of its top officials.[3]

In 1980, Nykanen began working for NBC News as a correspondent, and continued his investigative journalism. In September, 1982, he began working on a documentary uncovering an international ring of child pornography and prostitution that spanned from Holland and Denmark to the American Midwest. The documentary was aired nationwide on NBC as an hour-long special under the title Silent Shame: The Sexual Abuse of Children.[3][7] The New York Times called the broadcast, “as good an examination of a difficult topic as we are likely to see on television.”[8] During the documentary, Nykanen interviewed child molesters on camera and connected them to the lucrative child pornography industry.[9] The show was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism in the Programs category.[10]

During the 1980s, Nykanen broadcast other reports on NBC Nightly News. In 1982, he was nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Investigative Journalism, Segments category for his report Land Hustles.[11] In 1983 Nykanen uncovered the use of German Nazis as US spies in the days following World War Two.[12] He also headed the investigative reporting unit for the NBC television news magazine Monitor.[13][14]

In 1985, Nykanen won the Emmy for Investigative Journalism in the Segments category for his on-camera reporting for Military Medicine, an exposé on malpractice in the U.S. military that aired on NBC Nightly News. Nykanen also investigated the use of dangerous pesticides and the regulatory failures of the FDA, for which he won an Emmy.[15][16][1] He retired from NBC in 1988.[1] Following this, he spent some years providing news copy for the television show Hard Copy, including the writing and directing of much of its coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial. He also later wrote for the Lifetime television show Beyond Chance.[3]

Politics

In 1992 Nykanen served as the press secretary to Jerry Brown during his bid for the Democratic nomination for President. In that role, he discussed with the media Brown's expectations in the primaries and election results,[17] as well as other questions regarding his campaign.[18]

Novels

Mark Nykanen's novels have been translated into French, German, Italian, Czech, Dutch, Russian, and Mandarin. His first novel was the 1998 book Hush. The work began as a short story based upon a nightmare he had while suffering from a fever, which his literary agent encouraged him to turn into a novel.[1] The plot tells the story of a homicidal child abuser in Oregon who seeks to silence a woman trying to expose his crimes. She discovers his violent past while working as an art therapist with one of his young victims.[19]

Nykanen's next novel was The Bone Parade, released in 2004. It tells the story of a serial-killer sculptor who uses the bodies of his victims in his art.[20] The book is written from both third-person and first-persons points of view, with the first-person sections representing the internal dialogue and mindset of the murderer.[21][22] The German translation became a best-seller in Germany.[23] In 2005 Nykanen then released the novel Search Angel, which follows the story of an investigator who helps adoptees looking for their birth parents—and the parallel story of a serial killer who targets women who gave their children up for adoption. The murderer then stalks the investigator herself after discovering she had given up a child earlier in her life.[24] In 2009, he released the novel Primitive, the story of a middle-aged model who is kidnapped by eco-renegades and held captive in their secluded compound.[25] In 2011, he published Striking Back, about a serial killer who murders members of a therapist's spousal abuse support group.[26]

The same year, under the pseudonym "James Jaros", Nykanen published the post-apocalyptic novel Burn Down the Sky, based on a world decimated by climate change and a killer virus.[26] In 2012, he released the novel Carry the Flame under the same pen name, which follows the story of a caravan of people braving a scorched American Midwest populated by roving bands of violent outlaws. Both novels take place in a world where global warming has wrought catastrophic change.[27]

Personal life

In addition to Nykanen's continued anti-war protests,[2] he has been involved in public debates about climate change science.[28] During 2003 he and his wife moved to Canada in protest of the US invasion of Iraq. In 2015 they moved back to the U.S. In 2017, Nykanen and his wife returned to Canada, stating the reason was the result of the 2016 presidential election. He and his wife hold citizenship in both countries. Nykanen is married to Lucinda Taylor, who works as a health and family counselor.[29]

Recognition

Nykanen received four Emmy awards over his career,[1] an Edgar Allan Poe Award, and shared a Dupont-Columbia Award for Investigative Journalism.[19] In 2018, Nykanen appeared on the show United Shades of America.[30]

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References
  1. A.J. Flick (May 23, 1998). "Book Signing". The Tucson Citizen.
  2. "U.S. draft dodgers to get monument". Kitsap Sun. September 9, 2004.
  3. "Biography: Mark Nykanen". Belle Books.
  4. DAVE WALKER (November 13, 1991). "KDKB AT 20IN THE HANDS OF BILL COMPTON, THE STATION SHAPED A GENERATION--THEN FELL VICTIM TO ITS OWN SUCCESS". The Phoenix New Times.
  5. "Auxiliary". The Arizona Republic. September 7, 1977.
  6. "Tonight's Viewing". The Arizona Republic. June 12, 1980.
  7. Gera-Lind Kolarik, Wayne Klatt (2012). Freed to Kill: The True Story of Serial Murderer Larry Eyler. Garrett County Press. p. 202.
  8. JOHN CORRY (August 24, 1984). "TV WEEKEND; SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN". The New York Times.
  9. Arthur Unger (August 23, 1984). "A discreet and in-depth look at sexual abuse of children". The Christian Science Monitor.
  10. "1984 Nominations and Winners" (PDF). Emmy Awards Online.
  11. "1982 Nominations and Winners" (PDF). Emmy Awards Online.
  12. "NBC Nightly News - 9 June 1983" (PDF). CIA Online.
  13. "First Camera". The San Bernardino County Sun. September 25, 1983.
  14. JULIANNE HASTINGS (August 11, 1983). "TV World;NEWLN:NBC News preparing for all-new season". UPI.
  15. "1985 Nominations and Winners" (PDF). Emmy Awards Online.
  16. "THE TV COLUMN". The Washington Post. September 1, 1986.
  17. Richard L. Berke (March 26, 1992). "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Brown; Dark Horse or Not, Brown Enjoys Being Able to Strut". The New York Times.
  18. John Fairhall (March 21, 1992). "Brown's staff tries to work out kinks". The Baltimore Sun.
  19. "Hush: Book Review". Publishers Weekly. March 2, 1998.
  20. "The Bone Parade: Book Review". Publisher's Weekly. October 20, 2003.
  21. Tony Buchsbaum (April 2004). "Silence of the Promise". January Magazine.
  22. ADAM B. VARY (February 13, 2004). "The Bone Parade: Book Review". Entertainment Weekly.
  23. "Mark Nykanen Biography". Marknykanen.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  24. "Search Angel: Book Review". Publishers Weekly. May 16, 2005.
  25. "Will novels save the world?". Think Progress. February 24, 2010.
  26. "Mark Nykanen book launch double-header at Nelson Library". Nelson Daily. July 31, 2011.
  27. "Carry the Flame: Book Review". June 4, 2012.
  28. Dan Spring (November 18, 2009). "The Age of Stupid comes to the Kootenays" (PDF). The Valley Voice.
  29. Kristin Schwab (April 19, 2017). "These Americans moved to Canada for political reasons. They don't regret it". The Guardian.
  30. https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/05/21/usoa-canada-ron2.cnn/video/playlists/w-kamau-bell-united-shades/
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