Saving The School

Michael Brick was born at Cheverly, Maryland, 1974. He went to St. Thomas Aquinas School in Woodbridge, Virginia, where his sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Christie, said it was more important to know how to find things out than it was to know things. Then his family moved to Farmers Branch, Texas, which was a divisive place even before it became a famously divisive place. Despite the best efforts of fine teachers like Mrs. Reese, Mrs. Chiever and Mr. Toulmin at R.L. Turner High School, he developed a rebellious streak, failed to learn good study habits and kind of coasted along.

At the University of Texas, his attention turned to writing for the student newspaper, starting rock bands and playing basketball. The study habits thing caught up fast. So he moved to New York City, where he worked odd jobs (office painter on Wall Street, coat check guy at CBGB’s, bouncer at The Bottom Line) while serving as research assistant to Kurt Eichenwald on The Informant. One thing led to another, and he hooked on with a program to develop young writers at The New York Times.

As a young reporter, he covered the national commercial real estate beat, which was as exciting as it sounds, but he did learn to look for the human story in complex situations. Also he got to see some country, filing from 36 states and Mexico. Next he covered Brooklyn, meaning stories about crime, gentrification and often both. He switched to the sports desk for awhile, then quit to try other stuff. Now he lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and children.