Thomas Powers

Thomas Powers (born December 12, 1940, in New York City) is an American author and intelligence expert.

He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1971 together with Lucinda Franks for his articles on Weatherman member Diana Oughton (1942-1970). He was also the recipient of the Olive Branch award in 1984 for a cover story on the Cold War that appeared in The Atlantic, a 2007 Berlin Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History for his 2010 book on Crazy Horse.

Life and works Born in New York City in 1940, Powers attended Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts, graduating in 1958. He later attended Yale University, where he graduated in 1964 with a degree in English. At first, he worked for the Rome Daily American in Italy and later for United Press International. In 1970, he became a freelance writer.

Powers is the author of six works of non-fiction and one novel. The Man Who Kept Secrets: Richard Helms and the CIA, his 1979 biography of former Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms, is "widely regarded as one of the best books ever written on the subject of intelligence."

Powers has been a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, Harper's Magazine, The Nation, Commonweal, and Rolling Stone.

Besides writing, Powers joined a partnership to found a publishing company, Steerforth Press, in 1994. Originally headquartered in South Royalton, Vermont, it is now located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Its website describes itself as a "small independent house" with a "range of titles on a variety of topics".

Powers and his wife Candace live in Vermont.