James Wolcott


James Wolcott is an American journalist, known for his critique of contemporary media. Wolcott is the cultural critic for Vanity Fair and contributes to The New Yorker. He had his own blog on Vanity Fair magazine's main site which was awarded a Webby Award in 2007.

Background and education

Wolcott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in a suburban setting. He attended Maryland's Frostburg State College for two years. From there, he moved to New York City, to work at The Village Voice, first in the circulation department answering phone complaints, then as a receptionist. He is married to Laura Jacobs, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He began practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique in 2007.

Career

Since arriving in New York, Wolcott has been a columnist on media and pop culture for such publications as Esquire, Harper's Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and New York Magazine. He was lured to Vanity Fair by the late Leo Lerman, then the magazine's editor.
Wolcott wrote a novel, The Catsitters, published in 2001. In 2004, he published Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants, a critique of right-wing media in the United States. In addition, he recently contributed the foreword to Geoffrey Beene's forthcoming book, Identity.
His memoir Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York was published October 25, 2011.
In 2017, he advocated for the overthrow of the Trump administration by American intelligence agencies.

Political donations

In 2015 and 2016, Wolcott made 14 donations to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and one $200 donation to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. No contributions to Republican or other political parties were reported.

Awards and honors