Tad Friend

Theodore Porter "Tad" Friend (born September 25, 1962) is a staff writer for The New Yorker who writes the magazine's "Letter from California".

This article is about the journalist. For the historian, see Theodore Friend.

Life

Born in Buffalo, New York, Friend was raised there and in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania (where his father, Theodore Friend, was president of Swarthmore College). He was educated at The Shipley School and Harvard University.

Friend was a contributing editor at various publications, including Esquire, prior to becoming a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1998.[1] His work there includes the magazine's "Letter from California".[1] In 2001, he published "Lost in Mongolia: Travels in Hollywood and Other Foreign Lands", a collection of his articles. His memoir, Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor, was published in 2009.[1]

Friend is married to food writer Amanda Hesser, with whom he has twin children. He lives in Brooklyn Heights.

Bibliography

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Books

• Friend, Tad (2001). Lost in Mongolia : travels in Hollywood and other foreign lands. New York: Random House.
• — (2009). Cheerful money : me, my family, and the last days of WASP splendor. New York: Little, Brown.
• — (2011). Planet killers : a spine-tingling look at near-earth objects, mass extinctions, and the controversial science of planetary defense (eBook). Byliner.

Essays, reporting and other contributions

• Friend, Tad (July 20, 1987). "Reunion". The Talk of the Town. The New Yorker.
• — (May 2, 1988). "Auction". The Talk of the Town. The New Yorker.
• — (October 11, 1993). "(Still) looking for America". The Talk of the Town. The New Yorker.
• — (October 25, 1993). "Claudia Shear is definitely working". The Talk of the Town. The New Yorker.
• — (November 1, 1993). "Call it Luxembourgian". The Talk of the Town. The New Yorker.
• — (August 22, 1994). "White Trash Nation". New York Magazine.
• — (October 5, 2003). "Jumpers". Letter from California. The New Yorker.
• — (2005). "The king of banter". In Knutsen, Chris; David Kuhn (eds.). Committed : men tell stories of love, commitment, and marriage. New York: Bloomsbury.
• — (2006). "Inside the Coen heads". In Allen, William Rodney (ed.). The Coen brothers : interviews. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
• — (October 26, 2009). "Scrum again". The Talk of the Town. Revivals. The New Yorker. 84 (36): 34–35.
• — (November 1, 2010). "High kicks". The Talk of the Town. The Boards. The New Yorker. 86 (34): 42.[2]
• — (January 2, 2012). "Second Act". The Talk of the Town. Ink. The New Yorker. 87 (42): 22.[3]
• — (November 26, 2012). "In character". The Talk of the Town. Haunts. The New Yorker. 88 (37): 20–21.[4]
• — (December 3, 2012). "Skyping John Malkovitch". The Talk of the Town. Brave New World Dept. The New Yorker. 88 (38): 38, 40.
• — (January 14, 2013). "Prison tale". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 88 (43): 20, 22.
• — (February 4, 2013). "In the box". The Talk of the Town. The Sporting Life. The New Yorker. 88 (46): 22.[5]
• — (February 4, 2013). "Home economics : can an entrepreneur's audacious plan fix the mortgage mess?". Letter from California. The New Yorker. 88 (46): 26–31.
• — (March 11, 2013). "Fussbudget vérité". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (4): 20–21.
• — (March 25, 2013). "Guy's guy". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (6): 40, 42.
• — (May 6, 2013). "Agent Emmerich". The Talk of the Town. Backstory. The New Yorker. 89 (12): 24, 27.
• — (May 13, 2013). "Life project". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (13): 25.[6]
• — (June 3, 2013). "Framers reframed". The Talk of the Town. On Closer Inspection. The New Yorker. 89 (16): 21.[7]
• — (July 1, 2013). "Unsung". The Talk of the Town. Dept. of Breakthroughs. The New Yorker. 89 (19): 21–22.[8]
• — (July 22, 2013). "Surface, not depth". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (21): 24–25.
• — (September 30, 2013). "Selfless". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (30): 24–25.
• — (December 23–30, 2013). "Swagger". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (42): 43.[9]
• — (January 6, 2014). "Alleyman". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (43): 20–21.[10]
• — (February 3, 2014). "All grown up". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 89 (47): 24–25. Jonah Hill.
• — (February 10, 2014). "Thicker than water : a Nantucket family's trial at sea". A Reporter at Large. The New Yorker. 89 (48): 42–51.[11]
• — (March 17, 2014). "Heavy weather : Darren Aronofsky gets Biblical". Profiles. The New Yorker. 90 (4): 46–57.
• — (March 31, 2014). "Pep talk". The Talk of the Town. Blood Brothers. The New Yorker. 90 (6): 19–20.
• — (April 21, 2014). "Nine lives". The Talk of the Town. Homecoming. The New Yorker. 90 (9): 32, 34.[12]
• — (June 2, 2014). "Checkered". The Talk of the Town. The Artistic Life. The New Yorker. 90 (15): 25–26. Harmony Korine.
• — (July 28, 2014). "Honey dance". The Talk of the Town. Long, Strange Trip. The New Yorker. 90 (21): 24. Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees.
• — (August 4, 2014). "Cry, baby". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 90 (22): 22.
• — (August 25, 2014). "The old gang". The Talk of the Town. Remembrance. The New Yorker. 90 (24): 18–19.[13]
• — (September 1, 2014). "Saved". The Talk of the Town. Life's Ladder. The New Yorker. 90 (25): 20–21.
• — (December 15, 2014). "Hollywood and Vine : the entertainment industry seeks the future in viral video". Letter from California. The New Yorker. 90 (40): 42–49.
• — (March 23, 2015). "Filling the hole". The Talk of the Town. Last Call. The New Yorker. 91 (5): 37–38.[14]
• — (May 18, 2015). "Game". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 91 (13): 36.
• — (May 18, 2015). "Tomorrow's advance man : Marc Andreessen's plan to win the future". Letter from California. The New Yorker. 91 (13): 58–73.
• — (July 27, 2015). "Shelling up". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 91 (21): 20.
• — (March 7, 2016). "Lady Television". The Talk of the Town. Sing-Alongs. The New Yorker. 92 (4): 19–20. Alison Pill.
• — (March 21, 2016). "Do-over". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 92 (6): 33–34. Richard Linklater.
• — (June 20, 2016). "Ghost editor". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 92 (18): 23.
• — (October 10, 2016). "Adding a zero : is Y Combinator's Sam Altman fixing the world, or trying to take over Silicon Valley?". Profiles. The New Yorker. 92 (32): 68–83.[15]
• — (November 7, 2016). "Apologizer". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 92 (36): 17–18. Laura Dern.[16]
• — (June 19, 2017). "Pulverizer". The Talk of the Town. Comeback Dept. The New Yorker. 93 (17): 21–22.[17]
• — (August 21, 2017). "Nine lives". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 93 (24): 19.[18]
• — (October 30, 2017). "Performance capture". The Talk of the Town. The Pictures. The New Yorker. 93 (34): 19.[19]
• — (November 5, 2018). "Golden Boy 2.0 : Gavin Newsom's early promise fizzled. Now he's poised to be California's governor". The Political Scene. The New Yorker: 18–26.[20]

Interviews

• Whiting, Sam (October 9, 2005). "New Yorker West : Tad Friend, part-time Californian". San Francisco Chronicle.

Notes

1. "Contributors: Tad Friend". The New Yorker. n.d.
2. Discusses Molly Shannon in Neil Simon's Promises, Promises.
3. Discusses Heather Donahue.
4. Bryan Cranston revisits the Upper West Side.
5. Discusses squash champs Nick Matthew and James Willstrop.
6. Discusses Ethan Hawke.
7. Discusses Colin Quinn.
8. Discusses Darlene Love.
9. Alice Eve.
10. Paul Rudd.
11. Discusses Jason Mleczko.
12. Cat Stevens.
13. Penny Marshall remembers Robin Williams.
14. Online version is titled "The creator of 'Mad Men' reflects".
15. Online version is titled "Sam Altman's manifest destiny".
16. Online version is titled "Laura Dern's Literary Sensibility".
17. Online version is titled "From John Hughes to Michael Flynn".
18. Online version is titled "Hampton Fancher on the edge of fame".
19. Online version is titled "Andy Serkis's miniature worlds".
20. Online version is titled "Gavin Newsom, the next head of the California resistance".

External links

• Moody, Rick (June 24, 2011). "Swinging Modern Sounds #30: What Is and Is Not Masculine". TheRumpus.net.