Cathy Scott
Encyclopedia
Cathy Scott is an American
true crime
writer
and investigative journalist, born and raised in San Diego, United States
growing up in nearby La Mesa
, California. She later moved to Mission Beach
, California, where she was a single parent to a son, Raymond Somers Jr.
, is a Las Vegas
-based journalist and author best known for penning the biographies and true crime books The Killing of Tupac Shakur
(Huntington Press, ISBN 0-929-71220-X) and The Murder of Biggie Smalls
(St. Martin's Press
, ISBN 0-312-26620-0), both bestsellers in the United States and United Kingdom.
). Scott's hip hop books are each dedicated to the rappers' mothers. In 2005, an article first published in George
, was released in the 2005 book Tupac: A Thug's Life, a compilation of national magazine writers. She regularly coaches writers, including at the Flathead River Writers Conference in Montana
and San Diego State University
's Writers' Conference. In January 2011, Anderson Cooper 360°
's blog included Scott in an update on the Tupac and Smalls cases, quoting her as saying "the failure to secure the actual scene of the shooting and interview witnesses immediately doomed the investigation."
Scott, who wrote poetry as a teenager, worked on the Helix High School
yearbook her senior year. But her first full-time newspaper position wouldn't happen for 22 years, when she took a position as a reporter at the Beach & Bay Press in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach
. She then became business editor of the La Jolla Light weekly newspaper, after winning a Best of Show journalism award out of 1,200 entries from the San Diego Press Club, then moved to a daily paper, the Vista Press, in North San Diego County. She left the paper to string as a correspondent for the Associated Press and The San Diego Union-Tribune
. While reporting in San Diego, she was a member of the San Diego Press Club. She moved to the Mojave Desert
as a crime beat reporter for the Las Vegas Sun
, where she worked until 1998, and then went onto freelancing for the New York Times, Reuters news service and writing true crime books and biographies. While still at the Sun in 1997, her first book, The Killing of Tupac Shakur, was released.
From 2005 through 2007, Scott wrote a column titled "Crime & Punishment" for the alternative weekly
Las Vegas CityLife
.
Her sixth book, Pawprints of Katrina
: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned, with a foreword by actress Ali MacGraw
was a result of Scott's nearly four months on the Gulf Coast writing about the largest rescue of animals in U.S. history. Her seventh book, The Rough Guide to True Crime, a title in Rough Guides
' series of books, was released in August 2009.
She was a participant in the 2008 National Book Festival
, sponsored by the Library of Congress
and hosted by First Lady Laura Bush
, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Scott taught journalism and advanced magazine writing for five years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
's School of Journalism until September 2005 when she traveled to New Orleans as an embedded reporter for Best Friends Animal Society
to cover animal rescues in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
for its magazine and Web site. When she returned, she hired on with Best Friends as a staff writer. She sat as the Nevada State Sunshine Chair for 10 years until 2007 and on the Society of Professional Journalists
' Sunshine Committee.
Her work has appeared in The New York Times, New York Post, George magazine, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun. She has appeared on three Oxygen network "Snapped
" segments about murder cases involving women and on Unsolved Mysteries
about the Tupac Shakur case. In 2010, she appeared in the Discovery Channel's documentary, "On the Case with Paula Zahn
: Death in the Desert" about the Ted Binion trial.
She also appeared twice on the public access TV show Connie Martinson Talks Books
, including in January 2003 to talk about the unsolved killing of Susan Berman
and Scott's book Murder of a Mafia Daughter. With the 2003 release of Murder of a Mafia Daughter, Las Vegas CityLife newspaper named it "Pick of the Week" in February of that year.
Her eighth book, The Millionaire's Wife, about the 1990 contract murder of George Kogan, is scheduled for release by St. Martin's Press
in fall 2011.
Scott is a regular contributor to Women in Crime Ink
, described by the Wall Street Journal as "a blog worth reading." She also contributes to ForbesWoman.
, an author, and the late James (Jim) Scott, a Senior Olympics
winner who helped pioneer and develop the game of racquetball. She is the granddaughter of California artist Esther Rose
and Frank Rose (a sports writer at the Two Harbors, Minnesota
, newspaper in the 1920s), the niece of the late Russian Orthodox Hieromonk Father Seraphim Rose, sister of scientist and author Dr. J. Michael Scott
, and twin
sister of antiques expert Cordelia Mendoza
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
true crime
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and investigative journalist, born and raised in San Diego, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
growing up in nearby La Mesa
La Mesa, California
La Mesa is a city in San Diego County, California. The population was 57,065 at the 2010 census, up from 54,749 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1869 and officially incorporated as a city on February 16, 1912. Its official flower is the bougainvillea....
, California. She later moved to Mission Beach
Mission Beach, San Diego, California
Mission Beach is a community built on a sandbar between the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay. It is part of the city of San Diego, California.Mission Beach spans nearly two miles of ocean front. It is bounded by the San Diego River estuary on the south, Mission Bay Park on the east, and the community...
, California, where she was a single parent to a son, Raymond Somers Jr.
Biography
Scott, a graduate of the University of RedlandsUniversity of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private liberal arts and sciences university located in Redlands, California. The university's campus sits on near downtown Redlands. The university was founded in 1907 and was associated with the American Baptist Church. The land for the university was donated by...
, is a Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
-based journalist and author best known for penning the biographies and true crime books The Killing of Tupac Shakur
The Killing of Tupac Shakur
The Killing of Tupac Shakur, a biographical and true-crime account, by journalist and author Cathy Scott, of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The book made news upon its September 1997 release, on the first anniversary of Shakur's death, because of an autopsy photo included in its pages. It...
(Huntington Press, ISBN 0-929-71220-X) and The Murder of Biggie Smalls
The Murder of Biggie Smalls
The Murder of Biggie Smalls is a non-fiction true crime book by author and journalist Cathy Scott. Published in October 2000 by St. Martin's Press, it covers the March 9, 1997, murder in a drive-by shooting of the late rapper Christopher Wallace The Murder of Biggie Smalls is a non-fiction true...
(St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
, ISBN 0-312-26620-0), both bestsellers in the United States and United Kingdom.
Career
Her first two books are based on the drive-by shootings that killed the rappers six months apart in the midst of what has been called a West Coast-East Coast rap war (see East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalryEast Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry
The East Coast–West Coast Hip Hop Rivalry was a feud in the 1990s between artists and fans of the Eastcoast and Westcoast hip-hop scenes. Seeming focal points of the feud were East Coast-based rapper The Notorious B.I.G...
). Scott's hip hop books are each dedicated to the rappers' mothers. In 2005, an article first published in George
George (magazine)
George was a glossy monthly magazine centered on the theme of politics-as-lifestyle co-founded by John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Michael J. Berman with publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in New York City in September 1995...
, was released in the 2005 book Tupac: A Thug's Life, a compilation of national magazine writers. She regularly coaches writers, including at the Flathead River Writers Conference in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
's Writers' Conference. In January 2011, Anderson Cooper 360°
Anderson Cooper 360°
Anderson Cooper 360° is a one-hour television news show on CNN, hosted by the American journalist Anderson Cooper. It is also broadcast around the world on CNN International....
's blog included Scott in an update on the Tupac and Smalls cases, quoting her as saying "the failure to secure the actual scene of the shooting and interview witnesses immediately doomed the investigation."
Scott, who wrote poetry as a teenager, worked on the Helix High School
Helix High School
Helix High School, in La Mesa, California, is a charter high school built in 1952. It received its charter in 1998. Part of the Grossmont Union High School District, it serves a low to mid-level socioeconomic community and has a student body of approximately 2,400 pupils...
yearbook her senior year. But her first full-time newspaper position wouldn't happen for 22 years, when she took a position as a reporter at the Beach & Bay Press in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach
Pacific Beach, San Diego, California
Pacific Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, the population is becoming older, more...
. She then became business editor of the La Jolla Light weekly newspaper, after winning a Best of Show journalism award out of 1,200 entries from the San Diego Press Club, then moved to a daily paper, the Vista Press, in North San Diego County. She left the paper to string as a correspondent for the Associated Press and The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
. While reporting in San Diego, she was a member of the San Diego Press Club. She moved to the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
as a crime beat reporter for the Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas Sun
The Las Vegas Sun is a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. It is one of Las Vegas, Nevada's two daily newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group....
, where she worked until 1998, and then went onto freelancing for the New York Times, Reuters news service and writing true crime books and biographies. While still at the Sun in 1997, her first book, The Killing of Tupac Shakur, was released.
From 2005 through 2007, Scott wrote a column titled "Crime & Punishment" for the alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
Las Vegas CityLife
Las Vegas CityLife
Las Vegas CityLife, founded in August 1996, is the oldest alternative weekly newspaper in Southern Nevada and covers news about the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. Coverage includes news, politics, arts, and culture reporting in print and online formats. The publication is owned by Stephens...
.
Her sixth book, Pawprints of Katrina
Pawprints of Katrina
Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned is a 2008 non-fiction book written by author and journalist Cathy Scott that documents the writer's experience embedded with Best Friends Animal Society triage center to rescue lost animals in the Gulf region and reunite them with their people...
: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned, with a foreword by actress Ali MacGraw
Ali MacGraw
Elizabeth Alice "Ali" MacGraw is an American actress. She is known for her role in Love Story, for which she won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination.-Early life:...
was a result of Scott's nearly four months on the Gulf Coast writing about the largest rescue of animals in U.S. history. Her seventh book, The Rough Guide to True Crime, a title in Rough Guides
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
' series of books, was released in August 2009.
She was a participant in the 2008 National Book Festival
National Book Festival
The National Book Festival is an American event organized by the Library of Congress annually in Washington, D.C. Held in early autumn, the festival attracts tens of thousands of people each year . Over fifty nationally published authors, illustrators, and poets are invited for lectures,...
, sponsored by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and hosted by First Lady Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Scott taught journalism and advanced magazine writing for five years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada-Las Vegas is a public, coeducational university located in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, USA. The campus is located approximately east of the Las Vegas Strip. The institution includes a Shadow Lane Campus, located just east of the University Medical Center of...
's School of Journalism until September 2005 when she traveled to New Orleans as an embedded reporter for Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society, founded in its present form in 1984, is an American nonprofit 501 organization that is one of America’s best known animal welfare rescue groups. Best Friends works in outreach programs with shelters, other rescue groups and members nationwide to promote pet adoption,...
to cover animal rescues in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
for its magazine and Web site. When she returned, she hired on with Best Friends as a staff writer. She sat as the Nevada State Sunshine Chair for 10 years until 2007 and on the Society of Professional Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
' Sunshine Committee.
Her work has appeared in The New York Times, New York Post, George magazine, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun. She has appeared on three Oxygen network "Snapped
Snapped
Snapped is an American true crime television series that airs on the Oxygen Network. Snapped debuted on August 6, 2004 and is produced in conjunction with Jupiter Entertainment.-Synopsis:...
" segments about murder cases involving women and on Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
about the Tupac Shakur case. In 2010, she appeared in the Discovery Channel's documentary, "On the Case with Paula Zahn
On the Case with Paula Zahn
On the Case with Paula Zahn is a documentary and news program broadcast on Investigation Discovery and Discovery Channel since October 18, 2009....
: Death in the Desert" about the Ted Binion trial.
She also appeared twice on the public access TV show Connie Martinson Talks Books
Connie Martinson
Constance Frye Martinson is an American writer and television personality. Since its 1979 debut, she has hosted the syndicated television show Connie Martinson Talks Books, which airs on public television. She is married to American film director Leslie H. Martinson...
, including in January 2003 to talk about the unsolved killing of Susan Berman
Susan Berman
Susan Berman was a reporter and author who was the daughter of Davie Berman, a mob figure in Las Vegas. She wrote extensively about her late-in-life realization of her father's place in a criminal empire...
and Scott's book Murder of a Mafia Daughter. With the 2003 release of Murder of a Mafia Daughter, Las Vegas CityLife newspaper named it "Pick of the Week" in February of that year.
Her eighth book, The Millionaire's Wife, about the 1990 contract murder of George Kogan, is scheduled for release by St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
in fall 2011.
Scott is a regular contributor to Women in Crime Ink
Women in Crime Ink
Women in Crime Ink is an American daily crime aggregated blog founded on March 10, 2008 as "a well of thoughts on crime and media issues from women criminal justice professionals and authors." The site offers original content and coverage of crime, media, books, literature, high-profile criminal...
, described by the Wall Street Journal as "a blog worth reading." She also contributes to ForbesWoman.
Family
Scott is the daughter of the late Eileen Rose BusbyEileen Rose Busby
Eileen Rose Busby was an author and antiques expert who was featured on HGTV's Appraise It! show.-Early life:...
, an author, and the late James (Jim) Scott, a Senior Olympics
Senior Olympics
The National Senior Games or "Senior Olympics" is a sports competition for seniors from the United States. It is a multi-sport event specifically devoted to adults aged 50+ . It is composed of regional competitions held yearly in all American states...
winner who helped pioneer and develop the game of racquetball. She is the granddaughter of California artist Esther Rose
Esther Rose
Esther Elvira Rose , an American painter, worked in oils, collage, silkscreen and watercolors.-Biography:Esther Holbeck, whose parents arrived at Ellis Island, separately, from Sweden and Norway, was born in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and at 20 married Frank Rose, an amateur photographer and a sports...
and Frank Rose (a sports writer at the Two Harbors, Minnesota
Two Harbors, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,613 people, 1,636 households, and 953 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,120.7 people per square mile . There were 1,631 housing units at an average density of 505.9 per square mile...
, newspaper in the 1920s), the niece of the late Russian Orthodox Hieromonk Father Seraphim Rose, sister of scientist and author Dr. J. Michael Scott
J. Michael Scott
Dr. J. Michael Scott, a senior scientist, distinguished emeritus professor, environmentalist and author, was born in 1941 in San Diego, California.-Education:A graduate of San Diego County's Helix High School, Dr...
, and twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
sister of antiques expert Cordelia Mendoza
Cordelia Mendoza
Cordelia Mendoza is an antiques expert, volunteer, San Diego retailer, and author. Her volunteer work began at age 13 when she and her twin sister, Cathleen Scott, were named and represented the San Diego County Heart Association for a year as the Heart Fund Twins, after Mendoza successfully...
.
Non-fiction
- The Killing of Tupac ShakurThe Killing of Tupac ShakurThe Killing of Tupac Shakur, a biographical and true-crime account, by journalist and author Cathy Scott, of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The book made news upon its September 1997 release, on the first anniversary of Shakur's death, because of an autopsy photo included in its pages. It...
(1997, 2002) (ISBN 0-92971220X) - The Murder of Biggie SmallsThe Murder of Biggie SmallsThe Murder of Biggie Smalls is a non-fiction true crime book by author and journalist Cathy Scott. Published in October 2000 by St. Martin's Press, it covers the March 9, 1997, murder in a drive-by shooting of the late rapper Christopher Wallace The Murder of Biggie Smalls is a non-fiction true...
(2000) (ISBN 0312266200) - Death in the Desert: The Ted BinionTed BinionLonnie Theodore "Ted" Binion was a wealthy U.S. gambling executive and one of the sons of famed Las Vegas casino magnate Lester Ben "Benny" Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe...
Homicide Case (2000) (ISBN 1588205320) - Seraphim Rose: The True Story and Private Letters (2000) (ISBN 1928653014
- Murder of a Mafia Daughter: The Life and Tragic Death of Susan BermanSusan BermanSusan Berman was a reporter and author who was the daughter of Davie Berman, a mob figure in Las Vegas. She wrote extensively about her late-in-life realization of her father's place in a criminal empire...
(2002) (ISBN 1569802386) - Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons LearnedPawprints of KatrinaPawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned is a 2008 non-fiction book written by author and journalist Cathy Scott that documents the writer's experience embedded with Best Friends Animal Society triage center to rescue lost animals in the Gulf region and reunite them with their people...
(2008) (ISBN 0470228512) - The Rough Guide to True Crime (2009, PenguinPenguinPenguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
) (ISBN 185828385X)
External links
- Cathy Scott Official Site
- Cathy Scott Official Blog
- St. Martin's Press author bio
- Amazon author's blog
- Member, Authors Guild
- Writer's Digest, Oct. 2002
- Book publisher defends Shakur photo, Las Vegas Sun, Sept. 1997
- Vegas Valley Book Festival
- IMDb listing of TV appearances
- IMDb listing of documentaries
- "More On Old-School Journalism," Charlie Fern's Ink blog
- Women in Crime Ink columnist
- truTV Crime Library citation, "Life After Death," by Anthony Bruno for Hip Hop Homicide section
- View News, "True-Crime Journalist to Speak to Writers Group," October 19, 2010