About John F. Ross

John F. Ross's most recent book is Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed, a narrative non-fiction book for St. Martin's Press. The Wall Street Journal called his previous book, War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier (Random House, 2009), "a lively, evocative and moving biography." Formerly the editor of American Heritage and Invention & Technology magazines, he is the recipient of the 2011 Fort Ticonderoga Award for Contributions to American History. Before that he was on the Board of Editors of Smithsonian magazine, during which he wrote four cover stories.

On assignment Ross has dogsledded with the Polar Inuit of northwest Greenland, lived with nomadic Khanty reindeer herders in Siberia, chased scorpions in Baja, and dived 3,000 feet underwater in the Galapagos for Smithsonian, gone technical mountain climbing in Siberia for the National Geographic, and explored old castles in Europe for The Discovery Channel.

He has appeared on more than 50 radio and television programs, keynoted a dozen conferences around the country, and given talks at the Explorers Club of New York, NASAs Ames Research Center, the Pritzker Military Library, and the Smithsonian Institution.

He has helped start and run two magazines, been a producer for CBS News's Face the Nation, and edited many large-format books for Smithsonian Institution Press. His organization of the most northern canoe trip into the Arctic earned him membership in the Explorers Club of New York. For his television documentary work he won a national cableACE award.


RECENT AWARDS

Harryman Dorsey Periodical Article Award from the Society of Colonial Wars 2009 for "Battle of Carillon" in American Heritage, Spring/Summer 2008