Mike D'Orso (born October 12, 1953) is an American author and journalist based in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. He wrote ''Like Judgment Day: The Ruin and Redemption of a Town Called Rosewood'' (1996), ''Plundering Paradise: The Hand of Man on the Galapagos Islands'' (2002), and ''Eagle Blue: A Team, A Tribe and a High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska'' (2006). His co-written books include ''Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement'' (1998), written with U.S. Congressman and former

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

leader

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

; ''Rise and Walk: The Trial and Triumph of Dennis Byrd'' (1993), written with New York Jet defensive end Dennis Byrd; and ''Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them'' (2011), written with actor and environmental activist

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He ...

Life

D'Orso's father was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

submarine officer and a graduate of the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

. D'Orso was born in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

, and was raised in military base cities, including:

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

;

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

;

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

; and

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. He graduated with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

in 1975 and earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in English from William and Mary in 1981. D'Orso was a staff writer for ''Commonwealth Magazine'' (1981-1984), features writer for ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia ...

'' (1984-1993), and contributor to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' magazine (1988-1993). Seven of his books have been best sellers: ''Rosewood: Like Judgment Day'' and ''Body For Life'' (both ''The New York Times''); ''Walking With the Wind'' (''The Los Angeles Times'' and ''The Washington Post''); ''Like No Other Time'' and ''In Praise of Public Life'' (''The Washington Post''); ''Rise and Walk'' (''Bookstore Journal'' National Christian Bestsellers); and ''Winning With Integrity'' (''Business Week''). ''Walking With the Wind'' also won the 1999

Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (formerly the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, or RFK Center) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit human rights advocacy organization. It was named after United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy ...

and was selected for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' magazine's 2009 list of "50 Books For Our Times".

Works

D'Orso's work often involves issues of

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

. His first book, ''Somerset Homecoming'' (1988), written with Dorothy Redford, was about Redford's investigation into her ancestors' experience as

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. ''Like Judgment Day'' discussed the 1923

Rosewood massacre The Rosewood massacre was a racially motivated massacre of black people and the destruction of a black town that took place during the first week of January 1923 in rural Levy County, Florida, United States. At least six black people and two whit ...

, and the survivors' pursuit of

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

seventy years later. ''Walking With the Wind'' was a biography of

, a leader of the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

during the 1960s. ''Eagle Blue'' was about rural Native American villagers in arctic

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

shifting from a subsistence lifestyle of hunting, trapping and fishing to a modern cash economy. ''Plundering Paradise'' described the social and environmental impact of thousands of Ecuadorians moving to the Galapagos Islands in search of jobs.Gutin, JoAnn C. (Feb. 2, 2003). "Bitter Harvest." ''The Washington Post''.

References

External links

D'Orso's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Orso, Mike 1953 births Living people American male journalists 20th-century American writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers People from Portsmouth, Virginia Writers from Virginia College of William & Mary alumni Journalists from Virginia 21st-century American male writers