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Tracy Kidder was born in New York City in 1945. Kidder attended Harvard College where he earned an AB in 1967. From 1967 until 1969, he served as first lieutenant in Vietnam and was awarded a bronze star.
After his tour of duty, Kidder obtained an MFA from the University of Iowa, where he participated in the Writers' Workshop, a program known for the literary luster of both its staff and alumni. At the workshop, Kidder met Atlantic Monthly contributing editor Dan Wakefield, who helped him get his first assignment for the magazine in 1973, beginning a long-term association with the publication. Kidder's articles in The Atlantic have covered a broad range of topics, ranging from railroads, to energy, architecture, the environment, and more.
In 1994, Kidder met Dr. Paul Farmer -- subject of his latest book, Mountains Beyond Mountains -- when Kidder was in Haiti to report on American soldiers working to reinstate Jean-Bertrand Aristide's democratically elected government. Kidder and Farmer didn't see one another again until 1999 when Kidder asked to meet with Farmer to begin work on "The Good Doctor," a profile of Farmer that was published in The New Yorker in July 2000. Kidder's research for The New Yorker profile proved to be a starting point for Mountains Beyond Mountains, published in September 2003 by Random House.
Kidder's writing has been prolific and outstanding. The Soul of a New Machine -- a book celebrated for its insight into the world of corporate, high-technology America -- earned him a Pulitzer and a National Book Award in 1982. Other bestselling works include House (1985), Among Schoolchildren (1989), Old Friends (1993), and Home Town (1999). Among Schoolchildren, a narrative of one year int he life of a fifth-grade class and its teacher, won Kidder the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 1989.
Kidder lives with his wife and family in western Massachusetts and Maine.
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