Steve Lopez

Steven M. Lopez (born 1953) is an American journalist who has been a columnist for The Los Angeles Times since 2001. He is the son of Spanish and Italian immigrants.

For the taekwondo athlete, see Steven López.
Steve Lopez
Born
Steve M. Lopez

1953
Pittsburg, California, U.S.
OccupationJournalist
OrganizationThe Los Angeles Times

Life and work

Lopez is a native of Pittsburg, California,[1] and attended San Jose State University. He has been on staff at Time Inc. and written for Time, Life, Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated. In addition, he was on staff at The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune. He wrote the novels Third and Indiana, The Sunday Macaroni Club, and In the Clear. He has also compiled a collection of his works from The Philadelphia Inquirer titled Land of Giants, and a collection of Los Angeles Times columns called Dreams & Schemes.

Lopez's series of columns about his unlikely relationship with a cellist with schizophrenia[2] Nathaniel Anthony Ayers became the subject of a national best-selling book by Lopez that inspired the film The Soloist, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez.[2] Lopez was interviewed in the 2007 documentary Skid Row.

Ayers and Lopez's relationship was also nationally highlighted in the March 22, 2009, episode of 60 Minutes.[3]

In October 2010, Los Angeles city attorney Carmen Trutanich invited Lopez to participate in a driving test while under the influence of marijuana. The purpose of this study was to gauge the potential ramifications of California Proposition 19.[4]

Awards

Lopez has won numerous national journalism awards including the H.L. Mencken and Ernie Pyle awards, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for columns on elder care and his father's declining health.

In 2008 Lopez received the President's Award from the Los Angeles Press Club at the 50th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards.

His book, The Soloist, won the PEN USA award for literary non-fiction.

Lopez has also won three local news Emmys and a share of the Columbia DuPont Award for his civic affairs reporting at KCET TV in Los Angeles.

On April 29, 2011, Lopez received an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater, San Jose State University.[5]

References
  1. "Steve Lopez: Points West". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  2. Lopez, Steve (2008). The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. Berkley Trade, ISBN 978-0-425-22600-1
  3. "Steve Lopez on Nathaniel Anthony Ayers". Los Angeles Times.
  4. Lopez, Steve (October 20, 2010). "He's a Train Wreck behind the wheel". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2010-10-20. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  5. Lopez, Steve (May 5, 2011). Honored SJS alumnus criticizes Cal State cuts as blocking path of upward mobility. mercurynews.com
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