Lynn Vincent


Lynn Vincent is a conservative American writer, journalist, and author or co-author of 10 books. Vincent's work focuses on memoirs, politics and current events.
Vincent's best-known solo work is Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together. The tale of a friendship between a wealthy Texan and a black homeless man has been on the New York Times Best Seller list since October 2008.
She co-wrote Sarah Palin's 2009 memoir, .
In 2010, Vincent wrote, with Todd Burpo, Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, the story of the four-year-old son of a Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery visits heaven.
Vincent, a U.S. Navy veteran, spent 11 years as an investigative reporter and feature writer for WORLD magazine, a conservative Christian newsweekly. She has lectured on writing at the World Journalism Institute, and at The King's College in New York City.

Background

Vincent was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and lives in San Diego, California.

Magazine writing

During her 11 years as a senior writer and features editor for World magazine, Vincent covered politics, culture, and hot-button social issues. She wrote over 1,000 articles, including a report on how fetal tissue is acquired for medical research, and exposing sexual abuse of women in Protestant churches.
One of the subjects of the clergy abuse article, Donna Scott, is a regular writer at Huffingtonpost.com. In 2009, Scott, while not a political conservative, defended Vincent's journalistic standards in the face of attacks by anti-Palin commentators.

Books

''Heaven Is for Real''

In 2010, Vincent collaborated with small-town Nebraska pastor Todd Burpo whose then-three-year-old son Colton suffered from an undiagnosed ruptured appendix. The book, Heaven Is for Real, details that during the months after emergency surgery, Colton began describing events and people it was impossible for him to have seen or met, such as his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born. Within three weeks of its November 2010 release, the book debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list. By January 2011, there were 200,000 copies in print, and the book hit #1 on the New York Times list.
In April 2014, TriStar Pictures released a movie version of Heaven is for Real, co-written and directed by Randall Wallace, and starring Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Connor Corum and Margo Martindale and Thomas Haden Church.

''Going Rogue''

Vincent was hired by former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to be the collaborator on Palin's memoir, Going Rogue. Upon release, the book immediately hit no. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Palin's memoir is one of only four political memoirs to sell more than 1 million copies, with current sales over 3 million.

''Same Kind of Different as Me''

In addition to her other books, Vincent has had success with Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together. This true story, of the friendship between a wealthy Texan, Ron Hall, and a homeless African-American man, Denver Moore, was close to Vincent's heart. Her family was homeless when she was a teenager, and she has volunteered frequently in homeless programs.
The book has sold more than a million copies. Through Hall and Moore's speaking engagements, the book has helped raise more than $30 million for homeless shelters nationwide.

Other works

In 2009 Vincent co-authored with Hall and Moore a follow-up book entitled What Difference Does It Make? Stories of Hope and Healing.
Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime and Corruption in the Democratic Party, written with conservative journalist Robert Stacy McCain. Donkey Cons examines the differences between the way that the major political parties handle corruption in their own ranks.
Other collaborative memoirs Vincent has published include:
Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom, by Jerry Boykin and Vincent. William G. Boykin is an original member of the U.S. Army's Delta Force who led operations during the invasions of Grenada and Panama, including the rescue of American Kurt Muse, a political prisoner of General Manuel Noriega. Boykin was present at Noriega's surrender, and also headed the Colombian-led capture of narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar. In 2003 Boykin clashed with some in the U.S. media when speeches delivered at Christian events were interpreted by some to be policy statements.
The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption by Kamal Saleem and Vincent.
The Prodigal Comes Home: My Story of Failure and God's Story of Redemption by Michael English and Vincent. English, an award-winning gospel and contemporary Christian music singer, fell from grace and hit bottom as a prescription drug addict after committing adultery, only being restored to health by turning to God.
On April 12, 2011, Vincent released a book with Abby Sunderland titled Unsinkable: A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas.

Publications