Gwyneth Cravens is an American novelist and journalist. She has published five novels. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', where she also worked as a fiction editor, and in '' Harper's Magazine'', where she was an associate editor. She has contributed articles and editorials on science and other topics to ''Harper's Magazine'', ''
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 ...
'', and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''.
At a September 2007 seminar given by the
Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster ...
, Cravens outlined the message of her book, ''Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy''. Released in October 2007, it argued for
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
as a safe
energy source
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...
and an essential preventive of
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. She appeared in the documentary
Pandora's Promise
''Pandora's Promise'' is a 2013 documentary film about the nuclear power debate, directed by Robert Stone. Its central argument is that nuclear power, which still faces historical opposition from environmentalists, is a relatively safe and clean ...
to speak about the merits of nuclear power.
Since then, she has given presentations to members of the technical and academic communities around the U.S., including the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...
. She has often shared the podium with Dr. D. Richard ("Rip") Anderson, a chemist,
oceanographer
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...
, and international expert in nuclear risk assessment. These talks emphasize the need for the environmental and technical communities to work together to reduce the anthropogenic causes of catastrophic climate change.
Cravens has contributed articles on nuclear power as a
low-carbon
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' and '' Discover''. In 2002, she wrote "Terrorism and Nuclear Energy: Understanding the Risks" for ''The Brookings Review''.
Gwyneth Cravens has a daughter, the artist Astrid Cravens (born 1967). In 1974, she started dating the author
Henry Beard
Henry Nichols Beard (born June 7, 1945) is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine ''National Lampoon (magazine), National Lampoon'' and the author of several best-selling books.
Life and career
Beard, a great-grandson of 14t ...
. While there is some question if they ever married or not, they have continued as a couple. In May 2022, it was reported that Craven, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, went missing for a brief period, but was later located.
Bibliography
* ''The Black Death'' (1977), cinematised in 1992 as ''
Pandora's Promise
''Pandora's Promise'' is a 2013 documentary film about the nuclear power debate, directed by Robert Stone. Its central argument is that nuclear power, which still faces historical opposition from environmentalists, is a relatively safe and clean ...