Lost and Found

Determined to be a newspaper reporter, Ellen Hume discovered that the job wasn't open to girls. But she persisted, and succeeding beyond her wildest dreams, she covered some of the most tumultuous and colorful stories of her time. Even though she hated politics, Hume's insistence on holding the powerful accountable took her to Washington, where as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, she figured out how the politicians manipulated the news, and vice-versa. This tell-all memoir is, remarkably, a love story as well as a rollercoaster ride through the American news media at the height of their power. Her happy ending is especially satisfying to anyone who has ever felt their life has gone off the rails. Hume's motto is "Don't let the past kill the future!" 

This upbeat, funny and true story is about an American girl who found her superpowers by becoming Clark Kent. She covered some of the most remarkable stories of her time, including the search for kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, terrorist Sara Jane Moore's attempt to kill President Ford, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson's historic presidential campaign, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and the Reagan White House. Even though she hated politics, Hume's insistence on holding the powerful accountable took her to the top of the journalism heap in Washington. She turned away from joining the new pundit industry to try to reform the system, stirring up powerful opponents along the way.  But this tell-all memoir is, remarkably, a love story as well as a look inside the American news media at the height of their power. After her fairytale romance at Harvard lead to a devastating divorce, Hume embarked on a series of dating misadventures that ended with the most impossible (but rewarding) assignment of her life: taking on a new husband and four children, all in one year. Happily married at last, Hume found herself moving into a 65-room haunted castle in Prague, with nine servants and a new target on her back. But her good luck prevailed, and her family flourished, with a dramatic twist of fate at the end that is especially satisfying.

Ellen Hume covered Congress for the Los Angeles Times and the White House for the Wall Street Journal. She was a commentator on PBS and CNN, research director of the Center for Civic Media at the MIT Media Lab, executive director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard, and head of the Democracy Project at PBS. She started her journalism career covering local news for the Somerville Journal, Santa Barbara News Press and Ypsilanti Press, and business news for the Detroit Free Press. She won two honorary degrees and numerous other awards. She has four children and seven grandchildren. Her full bio and some of her more recent writing is on her website, www. ellenhume.com