Maryanne Vollers is an author, journalist, producer, and ghostwriter/collaborator with a track record of New York Times bestsellers.
Her first book, Ghosts of Mississippi: The Murder of Medgar Evers, the Trials of Byron De La Beckwith, and the Haunting of the New South, was a finalist for the 1995 National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism.
In 2001 Ice Bound, her collaboration with Jerri Nielsen, the American doctor who battled breast cancer while stationed at the South Pole, became a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Maryanne spent more than two years in Washington working with Hillary Rodham Clinton on her definitive and intimate memoir, Living History. Of her collaborator, then-Senator Clinton wrote: “Maryanne helped me conceive this book and shepherded it – and me – over its ups and downs. She was a joy to work with and has the rare gift of understanding how to help another’s voice emerge.” At the time of its release in June, 2003, Living History was reportedly the fastest-selling nonfiction book in history.
Vollers’ next book was about domestic terrorism and the hunt for the Olympic Park bomber. Lone Wolf: Eric Rudolph – Murder, Myth, and the Pursuit of an American Outlaw, was published by HarperCollins in November 2006. It was described in The New York Times as “cool, gripping…a standout.”
In 2011, Maryanne collaborated with the actor and activist Ashley Judd on All That is Bitter and Sweet, a memoir published by Ballantine/Random House. It debuted at #5 on the New York Times bestseller list. The following year she collaborated on another memoir with the actor Sissy Spacek. In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “My Extraordinary Ordinary Life is the book version of Sissy: warm, heartfelt and very real.”
Her collaboration with the young North Korean defector Yeonmi Park, was released in September 2015. Kirkus Reviews called In Order to Live “an eloquent, wrenchingly honest work.” It has become an international bestseller. On August 17, 2021, Penguin Random House published Billie Jean King’s All In: An Autobiography, co-written by Vollers and sportswriter Johnette Howard. It was described by Publisher’s Weekly as “a lively and inspiring portrait,”and by Booklist as “a must-read about an authentic American hero.”