author
Jack A. Nelson
A longtime journalism professor and former reporter, he wrote with a clear eye for real events, media history, and the way disability is represented in public life. His work ranges from thoughtful nonfiction on communication and inclusion to narrative nonfiction shaped by deep reporting.
1 Audiobook
The Men of Boru
by Jack A. Nelson
About the author
Jack A. Nelson was a journalist, teacher, and author whose writing often grew out of careful reporting and a strong interest in real-world events. Sources about his work say he studied journalism at Brigham Young University and American literature at the University of Utah, worked as a city desk reporter for the Deseret News, edited a weekly newspaper in California, and later returned to BYU, where he became an associate professor in the Department of Communications.
He wrote broadly in communications, history, and the humanities, and he is especially noted for work on disability and media. The Disabled, the Media, and the Information Age, which he edited, helped examine how disabled people were portrayed in American media and how those portrayals were changing. A profile in Disability Studies Quarterly describes him as an early pioneer in the study of media and disabilities.
He also wrote narrative nonfiction, including Flashes in the Night: The Sinking of the Estonia. Across these very different subjects, a common thread stands out: a reporter's curiosity, a concern for overlooked people and stories, and an effort to make complicated issues readable for a wide audience.