Michael finkel biography authors

Finkel was a writer for The New York Times until , when he was discovered to have created a composite protagonist for a story on the Arab slave trade within Africa. Initially, Finkel had pitched a story about child slavery The New York Times , but his reporting did not uncover proof of enslavement. Instead, he encountered teenagers working for meager wages in difficult conditions, [ 4 ] leading him to create the composite character to fit the narrative he had proposed.

After his dismissal from The New York Times , Finkel learned that Christian Longo , an Oregon man who had murdered his wife and three children in December , had used "Michael Finkel" as an alias during his several weeks as a fugitive. After Longo's capture the next month, Finkel communicated with him. Finkel says that, before the trial, Longo had hoped the journalist would bring out "the real story" to help him win acquittal; after his conviction, Longo gave Finkel interviews admitting his guilt.

Finkel is also the author of The Stranger in the Woods which tells the story of Christopher Thomas Knight , a hermit who lived alone in woods in the North Pond area of Maine for 27 years. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.

How much money did michael finkel make

Wikidata item. American journalist and memoirist. Career [ edit ]. Honors and awards [ edit ].