William Rivers Pitt

William Rivers Pitt (born November 9, 1971) is an author, editor, and political activist.

Background

Pitt was born in Washington, D.C., and lived several years in Alabama (where his father, Charles Redding Pitt, served as chair of the state Democratic Party) before eventually moving to Boston. He was educated in English literature at Holy Cross College, a Catholic college in Massachusetts, and after graduation spent two years in San Francisco doing law-related work. Formerly, Pitt taught English literature, journalism, grammar, and history at a small private school outside Boston. He set aside teaching in 2003 and became a full-time professional writer.

Writing career

Pitt had been writing about politics off and on for several years, but became devoted to the practice during the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton. Since President George W. Bush took office on January 20, 2001, Pitt has worked to fight what he describes as "the rising tide of conservative fundamentalism in American government".

In 2002, Pitt wrote the book War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know which consisted of an in-depth interview with former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter. In it, Pitt and Ritter examine the Bush administration's justifications for war with Iraq and call for a diplomatic solution instead of war. In reviewing this book, The Guardian called it "the most comprehensive independent analysis of the state of knowledge about Iraq's weapons programmes until the new team of inspectors went back."^[1]

Pitt currently works as a managing editor and columnist at the liberal commentary website truthout.org.^[2]

Political activism

In January 2004, Pitt took over for David Swanson as the Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich, who was seeking the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2004 presidential election.^[3]

Following his involvement in the Kucinich campaign, Pitt decided to push his career in teaching to the side in order to focus on political activism.^[4] As a result, he joined the staff of Progressive Democrats of America in 2005 as their Editorial director.^[5]

Bibliography

• 2006: Foreword by Cindy Sheehan. House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation. Poli Point Press. ISBN 0-9778253-2-9. 
• 2004: Our Flag, Too - The Paradox of Patriotism. Context Books. ISBN 1-893956-49-0. 
• 2003: The Greatest Sedition is Silence: Four Years in America. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-2010-4. 
• 2002: War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know. with Scott Ritter. Context Books. ISBN 1-893956-38-5. 

References