Martin Lee

Martin A. Lee, winner of the 1994 Pope Foundation Award for Investigative Journalism, is the author of The Beast Reawakens, a book on resurgent racism and neofascism published in hardcover by Little, Brown (1997) and as a revised and updated paperback by Routledge (2000). Publishers Weekly called The Beast Reawakens a “compelling, intelligent investigation which reads more like a thriller than a history lesson [and] contributes much toward understanding the politics of hatred.” The New York Times Book Review described it as “a vivid survey of fascist resurgence.” The San Francisco Chronicle called it “brilliant . . . dramatic. . . hard to put down.” A Spanish translation will be published next year. The Beast Reawakens has been optioned for a documentary film, which is currently in production.

Lee’s first book, Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the Sixties Rebellion, was published by Grove Press in 1986 and by MacMillan UK (London) in 2001. Andrew Weil in The Nation described Acid Dreams as “Engaging throughout_at once entertaining and disturbing.” Choice hailed it as “a landmark contribution to the sociopolitical history of the U.S.” The American Journal of Psychiatry said the book contained “a wealth of historical, sociological, and political information.” The San Francisco Chronicle called it “a generalist’s history that should replace all others.” Acid Dreams was on the Chronicle‘s bestseller list for six weeks. Foreign-language editions of Acid Dreams have been published in France and the Czech Republic. A Spanish edition will be published in January 2002.

Lee is the co-founder of the New York-based media research group FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting), former editor and publisher of FAIR’s magazine Extra!, and co-author of Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias In News Media (Lyle Stuart, 1990). The Washington Post called Unreliable Sources “a worthy addition to the library of any student of American news media, social structure and political science.” Booklist described it as “a telling indictment, urgently but not hysterically expressed.” A Chinese-language edition of Unreliable Sources was published in 1995.

Interviewed as an expert on terrorism, espionage, and media issues, Lee has been a guest on CBS 48 Hours, CNN’s International Hour, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR’s Fresh Air, and C-Span. His articles have been published in numerous outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Newsday, Miami Herald, The Nation, Village Voice, Spin, Christian Science Monitor, Interview, LA Weekly, Mother Jones, Utne Reader, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Seattle Times, Montreal Gazette, Dissent, Progressive, In These Times, and the National Catholic Reporter. Lee has also written for the Associated Press and Inter Press Service, and his stories on neo-Nazism and right-wing extremism have been syndicated by the New York Times. He is a contributing writer to the Consortium for Independent Journalism and CommonDreams.org.

Lee’s writing has been translated and published in numerous foreign periodicals, including Le Monde Diplomatique and L’Evenement du Jeudi (Paris), New Statesman and Index on Censorship (London), Aktuelt (Copenhagen), Humo (Brussels), Sydsvenska Dagbladet (Stockholm), Vrij Nederland (Amsterdam), Avvenimenti and Il Manifesto (Rome), and Die Tageszeitung (Berlin).

Lee has been a guest teacher-in-residence at the University of Illinois. He has lectured widely at colleges and universities including Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and the American University in Paris. As an undergraduate student in Philosophy at the University of Michigan, Lee won four Hopwood awards for creative writing.

Author’s email: martinalee117@yahoo.com