Michael F. Bamberger (born April 15, 1960) is a senior writer for the Fire Pit Collective and the author of multiple books.

Early life

Bamberger was born and raised in Patchogue, New York. He attended its public schools (graduating from Patchogue-Medford High School in 1978), wrote for local newspapers and played golf on nearby public courses. He is married and lives in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and is the father of two children.

Career

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982, Bamberger became a reporter for the ''

Vineyard Gazette The ''Vineyard Gazette'' is one of two paid circulation newspapers on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Founded in 1846, it also circulates in many other states and countries to seasonal residents of the resort island. History The ''Gazette'' was ...

'' on Martha's Vineyard,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He joined ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' in 1986 and became a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1995. Bamberger is the author of seven nonfiction books and the co-author of one novel. ''Wonderland: A Year in the Life of an American High School'' (2004), chronicles the senior year of a group of high school students. The rights for the book were bought by

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

, and MTV and

Tollin/Robbins Productions Tollin Productions (or simply known as TP and formerly known as Marquee/Tollin/Robbins (or simply known as MTR or M/T/R)) was an American movie and television production company operated by Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins in 1994. Joe Davola was ...

were to produce the film, which had tentatively been named ''Pennsbury''. In 2004,

Mike Tollin Michael Tollin is an American film and television producer/director who served as executive producer of the Emmy award-winning ''The Last Dance'', a 10-part documentary series on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty. The series received ...

and

Brian Robbins Brian Levine (born November 22, 1963), known professionally as Brian Robbins, is an American film executive, actor, and filmmaker who is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. He also serves as Ch ...

signed with Walt Disney Studios, leaving the status of the project uncertain. ''The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale'' (2006), released the same week as the writer-director-producer's film ''

Lady in the Water ''Lady in the Water'' is a 2006 American fantasy psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who produced with Sam Mercer. The film features the starring cast of Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard with Bob Balaban ...

'', profiles him as he develops it. ''The Swinger'' (2011), a novel he wrote with fellow ''Sports Illustrated'' writer Alan Shipnuck, is a satire of the

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

sex scandal. ''The Second Life of Tiger Woods'' (2020) covers Woods's win at the 2019 Masters. He is also the author of four autobiographical books on golf: ''The Green Road Home'' (1986), ''To the Linksland'' (1992), ''This Golfing Life'' (2005) and ''Men in Green'' (2015). Bamberger's play ''Bart & Fay'', about the longtime relationship between

Bart Giamatti Angelo Bartlett Giamatti (; April 4, 1938 – September 1, 1989) was an American professor of English Renaissance literature, the president of Yale University, and the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti served as Commiss ...

and

Fay Vincent Francis Thomas Vincent Jr. (born May 29, 1938), known as Fay Vincent, is a former entertainment lawyer, securities regulator, and sports executive who served as the eighth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to Septembe ...

, was performed in 1996 at Philadelphia's

Walnut Street Theatre The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnu ...

References

External links

Two on Tiger Woods: Journey Back to the Leaderboard
by John Paul Newport of

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

A review of ''The Swinger''
by

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', June 30, 2011 1960 births Living people American sportswriters American male non-fiction writers {{US-journalist-1960s-stub