Matt Richtel
Biography
Matt Richtel
Matt Richtel is an
author, journalist, and (we kid you not) cartoonist. HOOKED is his
first novel, and he is currently writing a second, tentatively
titled Idle’s Mind. Matt makes most of his living as a
New York Times reporter, covering technology and
telecommunications from the San Francisco bureau. He began at the
paper as a freelancer in 1996 and joined the staff in 2000. He has
written on a range of topics, including Internet gambling, identity
theft, corporate espionage, video games, mobile telecommunications,
the dot com bust, and Silicon Valley's economy and its culture. He
wrote a seminal piece on the potential physiologically addictive
qualities of computer use, and he was heavily involved in the
paper’s coverage of the Hewlett-Packard spying scandal. On
occasions he writes about non-technology related topics, including
a story about the 2006 Adult Film Awards (He still is unclear
whether the assignment was a mark of honor or shame). From 2000 to
2002, he wrote a monthly humor column, “backslash,”
about the impact of technology on our lives. He currently writes
the monthly column “VC Nation,” about the venture
capital industry. In May of 2007, he was named a finalist
for the Gerald Loeb Award, one of business journalism's most
prestigious awards.
In his spare time, Matt writes the syndicated daily comic strip
"Rudy Park." The strip, launched in 2001, revolves around the lives
of regular and occasional patrons at an Internet cafe. It appears
in newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun
Times, Orange County Register and the Rocky
Mountain News. Matt writes the strip under the pen name,
“Theron Heir.” The comic is illustrated by Darrin Bell,
is the subject of two book compilations, RUDY PARK: THE PEOPLE MUST
BE WIRED, and RUDY PARK: PEACE, LOVE, AND LATTES.
In his other spare time (which, as you can tell by now, is getting
lean), Matt is husband, son and grandson, brother, and uncle. He's
an avid tennis player and recreational athlete, overly emotional
sports fan (California Bears and Denver Broncos), regular host of
outdoor barbecues, maker of gourmet guacamole, and a periodic
songwriter. Matt is particularly devoted to his paternal
grandmother, Annie, and although she professes to be equally
devoted to him, and despite his valiant efforts, she regularly
crushes him in online scrabble. When asked where he gets the energy
to take on various activities and Matt is steadfast in his
response: a commitment to regular napping, which he considers a
basic human right.
Matt grew up in Boulder, Colorado, the son of two avid readers,
attended Boulder High School, and obtained a bachelors degree in
rhetoric from University of California at Berkeley and an MS in
Journalism from Columbia University. He lives in San Francisco with
Meredith Jewel (last name still to be determined) whom he married
in October 2006. They are raising a cat, Magus, and considering
family expansion.
©
Copyright 2007, Matt Richtel. All rights reserved.
Matt Richtel
