“Gene Meyer is one of the finest journalists to come out of the Ben Bradlee era at The Washington Post. He has the highest standards and practices aggressive but compassionate storytelling.”
—Bob Woodward
About Gene Meyer
Eugene L. Meyer is an award-winning veteran journalist with eclectic interests but special passions for history, lifestyles, travel, real estate and the Chesapeake Bay. He has been widely published in magazines, authored four books and was for many years a reporter and editor at the Washington Post. Since leaving the Post in 2004, Meyer has received 18 awards for his work, and he has had more than 50 bylines in The New York Times. His first journalism job was as Washington bureau librarian for the old New York Herald Tribune, where he got to tag along with a White House reporter and watch the 1964 Civil Rights Act being signed into law.
Books by Gene Meyer
Praise for Gene's Work
“Even in a newsroom full of superstars, Gene Meyer always stood out. Not flashy, not one to draw attention to himself, he has always found a way to bring so called ordinary people, and fading and forgotten places, into the spotlight. He has that most important but all too rare gift: he listens.”
—Michel Martin, Host of NPR's Morning Edition
“A historical memory that never seems to fade, a passion for justice and a gift for storytelling, Gene is always a must read.”
—Courtland Milloy, Washington Post columnist
“Gene Meyer knows the highways and byways and waterways of America like no one else. He was the first reporter I met at the Washington Post nearly 40 years ago, and I've been admiring him and reading him ever since.”
—David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning Associate Editor of the Washington Post
“Gene is an author and journalist whose writing is often elegiac, always compelling. His range is wide, his insights keen, and, with his eclectic interests, he informs and entertains his readers with his stories about the past and present...”
—Kitty Kelley, celebrity biographer
“I had the privilege of working with Gene Meyer during my early days at The Washington Post and it was like getting Ph.D in reporting and story-telling. Gene's continued to be a master of both for more than four decades now and, to this day, I still feel as if I learn something every time I read something he's written.”
—John Feinstein, sports writer, commentator and author of 35 books
“Meyer is our own Marco Polo, balancing interviews, explanatory background and lively commentary.”
—James Bready in the Baltimore Sun
In the News
The 2023 B'nai B'rith Magazine cover story "When Anti-Semitism Hits Home: How Hate Hurts Kids" won the top prize from the American Jewish Press Association for "Excellence in Writing About Young Families." To read the article by Beryl Lieff Benderly, click here. I am proud to have edited the publication since December 2009.
B’nai B’rith Magazine previously won the “best magazine” award from the American Jewish Press Association. The 2022 cover story (“Stolen Silver: Nazi Plunder and the Unfinished Quest for Restitution”) also won first place for enterprising and investigative journalism.
Meyer was humbled and proud to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in May 2019 from the Washington Independent Review of Books for his many years of service to the organization and for his years of journalism.
FIVE FOR FREEDOM: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army won the 2019 award for Outstanding Biography/History from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Next Project
My work in progress is "Andre! The Man, The Maestro, and The World That Made Him." It is a new biography of the musical polymath and my cousin Andre Previn (1929-2019), winner of 4 Oscars and 11 Grammys, jazz pianist and composer and principal conductor of orchestras in London, Los Angeles, Houston and Pittsburgh. He was married and divorced five times, most notably to actress-activist Mia Farrow, and the largely absent father to ten--my third cousins! Born in Berlin, he and his family fled the Nazis and landed in LA, where my great uncle Charles Previn, a friend and associate of George Gershwin and musical director of Universal Studios, helped launch the young wunderkind on his remarkable career. It's an untold family story and memoir told against a backdrop of war and peace, Hollywood glamor and concert hall drama, with larger than life personalities, including many of the marque names of mid-20th century into the 21st century in arts and entertainment.
Meanwhile, my memoir of many decades as an eyewitness to history--years of protest, days of rage--as a reporter dedicated to truth telling in turbulent times is on indefinite sabbatical. Yet, it remains even more relevant today, when the importance of truth in a democracy is increasingly under attack at the highest levels.
Latest Blog Post
NOTE: My longtime friend and fabled sportswriter John Feinstein died suddenly on March 13 of an apparent heart attack. I wrote this appreciation for the Washington Independent Review of Books. You can read the text below or on the website by clicking here. John Feinstein, described as a “legendary” sportswriter, who died yesterday of an apparent heart attack at 69, was a larger-than-life figure — and a brash young kid…
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