Stefan Fatsis (; born April 1, 1963) is an author and journalist. He regularly appears as a guest on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' daily radio news program and as a panelist on Slate's sports podcast '' Hang Up and Listen''. He is a former staff reporter for ''

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 ...

''.

Biography

Fatsis grew up in

Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...

. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1985 with a degree in American Civilization. He was a staff writer for the ''

Daily Pennsylvanian ''The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc.'' is the independent student media organization of the University of Pennsylvania. The DP, Inc. publishes The Daily Pennsylvanian newspaper, 34th Street Magazine, and Under the Button, as well as five newslette ...

'' as an undergraduate. From 1985 to 1994 he was a reporter for

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

in Athens, Greece; Philadelphia; Boston and New York. He wrote about sports for ''

'' from 1995 to 2006. He is the author of three books: ''Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America's Heartland'' (1995); '' Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players'' (2001), about the subculture of tournament

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...

, in which Fatsis immersed himself as a player; and '' A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL'' (2008). That book was published in paperback with the abbreviated title ''A Few Seconds of Panic: A Sportswriter Plays in the NFL'' (2009). Fatsis trained as a placekicker and spent the summer of 2006 as a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

during the team's

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

(similar to the premise of

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

's 1966 book '' Paper Lion''). Fatsis's work also appears in several anthologies: ''Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick Their Favorite Baseball Player of All Time'' (April 2010), ''The Final Four of Everything'' (2009), ''Anatomy of Baseball'' (2008), ''The Best Creative Nonfiction Vol. 2'' (2008) and ''The Enlightened Bracketologist: The Final Four of Everything'' (2007). He also writes or has written for ''

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 ...

'', the ''New York Timess defunct ''Play'' magazine, ''Sports Illustrated'', SI.com, Slate, ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'',

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

.com,

Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and based in Chicago. Previously owned by Gawker Media and Univision Communications, it is currently owned by G/O Media. ''Deadspin'' posted daily previews, recaps, and commentaries o ...

and other publications. He lives in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, with his wife, former ''

'' co-host Melissa Block, and their daughter, Chloe Fatsis.

References

External links

Stefan Fatsis's website
*
Stefan Fatsis's profile page (National Scrabble Association)
* *Lindsay, Drew.

, ''Washingtonian'', June 1, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fatsis, Stefan 1963 births Living people The Wall Street Journal people American Public Media American Scrabble players Journalists from Washington, D.C. The Daily Pennsylvanian people Writers from Chios Place of birth missing (living people) American writers of Greek descent People from Pelham, New York 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Sportswriters from New York (state)