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Judy Pasternak Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Judy Pasternak
Photo: Gail Fisher

Judy Pasternak

Judy Pasternak Biography

Judy Pasternak is a writer who lives near Washington DC. She worked for the Los Angeles Times for 24 years, in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, tackling subjects as varied as al Qaeda's private airline, a band of right-wing bank robbers, backstage maneuvering at Dick Cheney's energy task force and the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way. She has won numerous awards for environmental and investigative journalism. Previously, she worked at the Detroit Free Press, Baltimore News American and Hollywood (Fla.) Sun-Tattler. She is married, with one son.



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Interview

A video in which Judy Pasternak discusses her nonfiction book Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed, plus a timeline of government neglect, as revealed in Yellow Dirt.

A video in which Judy Pasternak discusses her nonfiction book Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed, plus a timeline

A timeline of government neglect, as revealed in Yellow Dirt

  • 1942:  Vanadium Corporation of America starts uranium mining in Dine Bikeyah, promising to return the land "in as good condition as received" and "commit no waste on the land."
     
  • 1945: Atomic bomb is dropped in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

  • 1949: Soviets successfully test their A-bomb. The arms race intensifies.
     
  • 1950: Public Health Service (PHS) launches a study monitoring human health and the mine conditions.

  • 1952: PHS, along with the Colorado Health Department (CHD), publish "An Interim Report of a Health Study of the Uranium Mines and Mills," citing enough risk for the miners to take major precautions. Their recommendations are ignored.
     
  • 1952: To reduce the size of the waste pile in the predominantly white town of Grand Junction, CO, the mill opens its doors to anyone who wants to cart away sand – sand, of course, laced with uranium debris.

  • 1953: Miners at Monument No...

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Books by this Author

Books by Judy Pasternak at BookBrowse
Yellow Dirt jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Judy Pasternak but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Sherman Alexie

    Sherman Alexie

    Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. Approximately 1,100 Spokane Tribal ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Yellow Dirt

    Try:
    Blasphemy
    by Sherman Alexie

  • John Carreyrou

    John Carreyrou

    John Carreyrou is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal. For his extensive coverage of Theranos, Carreyrou was awarded the George Polk Award for Financial Reporting, the Gerald ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Yellow Dirt

    Try:
    Bad Blood
    by John Carreyrou

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