Mark Pendergrast
Encyclopedia
Mark Pendergrast is an American
independent scholar and author of five books.
. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature
from Harvard College
, after which he taught for several years in public schools. Pendergrast later attended Simmons College in Boston, where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in Library Science
. He worked as an academic librarian and freelance writer until becoming a full-time writer in 1991. Pendergrast lives in Essex Junction, Vermont
.
.
Pendergrast has also reviewed books for The Philadelphia Inquirer
and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has contributed articles to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Analyst
, The Sun
, Vermont Life Magazine, Sea History
, Library Journal
, and Professional Psychology.
Pendergrast co-edited The Aftermath: A Survivor's Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe, a Holocaust memoir by Henry Lilienheim. He has spoken at scientific and journalism seminars and on college campuses. He writes a regular column about coffee for the Wine Spectator
.
Pendergrast is a member of the National Association of Science Writers
, the Society of Environmental Journalists, and the League of Vermont Writers. He is a member of the governing board of the National Center for Reason and Justice
, a nonprofit organization
which works with innocent people falsely accused or convicted of child abuse
(related to the subject of his book Victims of Memory). That book's introduction states that Pendergrast is a member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
, which provides information for "distraught accused parents, mental health professionals, and all those caught up in the repressed-memory phenomenon."
again." Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book Review, 10 August 2003.
"Mark Pendergrast, the ultimate free-lance journalist with an eclectic mind, writes about deceptively narrow topics that in fact have figured in world history." Steven Weinberg
, reviewing Mirror Mirror for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6 July 2003).
they received which involved "repressed memories
" of childhood sexual abuse, although the women never revealed details of what the alleged abuse supposedly involved. In attempting to understand this personal tragedy, Pendergrast discovered that this pattern of accusation and self-estrangement following unearthed "repressed memories of sexual abuse" had become popular in the United States and Canada in the late 1980s; adults were encouraged by self-help book
s, such as The Courage to Heal
(1988), and by many therapists, to believe that some of their problems as adults were because they had been sexually abused in childhood.
In a review in Applied Cognitive Psychology, British clinical psychologist Chris Brewin, who supports the repressed-memory theory, characterized the book as being well-researched but biased. He says the author makes unfavorable comments against those he disagrees with; that he accepts arguments that support his theory while criticizing arguments that do not.
Daniel Schacter
, a Harvard
psychology professor who has written extensively on the subject of memory, reviewed Pendergrast's book favorably in Scientific American
magazine: " . . an impressive display of scholarship . . . a comprehensive treatment of the recovered-memories controversy . . . Pendergrast demonstrates a laudable ability to lay out all sides of the argument . . renders a sympathetic portrayal of recovery therapists as well-intentioned but misinformed players in a drama that has veered out of control."
Many introductory psychology textbooks now include references to repressed memory and suggestibility
with discussions on the plausibility or implausibility of these concepts, and Pendergrast's scholarship is sometimes cited.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
independent scholar and author of five books.
Biography
Pendergrast was born in 1948 to Nan and Britt Pendergrast, the fourth of seven children. He was raised in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, after which he taught for several years in public schools. Pendergrast later attended Simmons College in Boston, where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in Library Science
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
. He worked as an academic librarian and freelance writer until becoming a full-time writer in 1991. Pendergrast lives in Essex Junction, Vermont
Essex Junction, Vermont
Essex Junction is a village in the town of Essex in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 8,591 at the 2000 census. It was incorporated on November 15, 1892....
.
Career
Pendergrast has published five books on various topics. Two are histories of caffeinated beverages (Coca-Cola and coffee). His latest (2010) non-fiction book is a history of the Epidemic Intelligence ServiceEpidemic Intelligence Service
The Epidemic Intelligence Service is a program of the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Established in 1951, due to biological warfare concerns arising from the Korean War, it has become a hands-on two-year postgraduate training program in epidemiology, with a focus on...
.
Pendergrast has also reviewed books for The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has contributed articles to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Analyst
Financial analyst
A financial analyst, securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, or investment analyst is a person who performs financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core part of the job.-Job:...
, The Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
, Vermont Life Magazine, Sea History
Sea History (magazine)
Sea History is a quarterly magazine published by the National Maritime Historical Society focusing on naval and maritime history. It is edited by Deirdre O'Regan.- External links :*...
, Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
, and Professional Psychology.
Pendergrast co-edited The Aftermath: A Survivor's Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe, a Holocaust memoir by Henry Lilienheim. He has spoken at scientific and journalism seminars and on college campuses. He writes a regular column about coffee for the Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces...
.
Pendergrast is a member of the National Association of Science Writers
National Association of Science Writers
The National Association of Science Writers was created in 1934 by a dozen science journalists and reporters in New York City. The aim of the organization was to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage....
, the Society of Environmental Journalists, and the League of Vermont Writers. He is a member of the governing board of the National Center for Reason and Justice
National Center for Reason and Justice
The National Center for Reason and Justice is a United States national non-profit organization disseminating information to the public about claims of injustice in the current criminal justice system and facilitating financial and legal assistance for people the organization considers likely to...
, a nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
which works with innocent people falsely accused or convicted of child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
(related to the subject of his book Victims of Memory). That book's introduction states that Pendergrast is a member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation
False Memory Syndrome Foundation
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 by Pamela and Peter Freyd, after being accused by their adult daughter Jennifer Freyd of sexual abuse when she was a child...
, which provides information for "distraught accused parents, mental health professionals, and all those caught up in the repressed-memory phenomenon."
Public reception of published work
Pendergrast's non-fiction books have received generally positive reviews in the press.For God, Country and Coca-Cola
"A detailed and marvelously entertaining history . . . a book as substantial and satisfying as its subject is (at least in nutritional terms) inconsequential." Lawrence Dietz, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Uncommon Grounds
"Few coffee drinkers suspect that they are affecting American foreign policy, the domestic policies of Latin-American and African countries, and the habitat of migratory birds. Pendergrast shows how and why they are. He has taken on a huge subject, but he organizes the facts skillfully and puts personalities in the perspective of their times. This encyclopedic volume is the entertaining result." The New YorkerThe New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
Mirror Mirror
"Psst . . . want to save $160,000? Don't send your son to college; slip him this book instead. It shoehorns an entire liberal arts education into a cultural history of mirrors that touches on architecture, anthropology, sex, painting, myth, religion, math, science, magic, astronomy, literature, business, espionage and warfare, and travels from the Big Bang to the rise and fall of the Greek and Roman empires, the waxing and waning of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the discovery of the New World, and at last, space: the final frontier. Anyone who masters the contents of Mirror Mirror need never fear Trivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
again." Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book Review, 10 August 2003.
"Mark Pendergrast, the ultimate free-lance journalist with an eclectic mind, writes about deceptively narrow topics that in fact have figured in world history." Steven Weinberg
Steven Weinberg
Steven Weinberg is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles....
, reviewing Mirror Mirror for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6 July 2003).
Victims of Memory
Victims of Memory is Pendergrast's most controversial book to date. As he revealed in the book's first edition, by 1992 he had lost contact with his two adult daughters, apparently in connection with psychotherapyPsychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
they received which involved "repressed memories
Repressed memory
Repressed memory is a hypothetical concept used to describe a significant memory, usually of a traumatic nature, that has become unavailable for recall; also called motivated forgetting in which a subject blocks out painful or traumatic times in one's life...
" of childhood sexual abuse, although the women never revealed details of what the alleged abuse supposedly involved. In attempting to understand this personal tragedy, Pendergrast discovered that this pattern of accusation and self-estrangement following unearthed "repressed memories of sexual abuse" had become popular in the United States and Canada in the late 1980s; adults were encouraged by self-help book
Self-help book
Self-help books are books written with the stated intention to instruct any readers on a number of personal problems. They take their name from Self-Help, the Victorian best-seller, but are also known and classified under "self-improvement", a term that is a modernized version of self-help...
s, such as The Courage to Heal
The Courage to Heal
The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse is a popular self-help book written by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis that discusses the impact of child sexual abuse and how to address it. The primary thrust of the book is that individuals with a vague set of symptoms have...
(1988), and by many therapists, to believe that some of their problems as adults were because they had been sexually abused in childhood.
In a review in Applied Cognitive Psychology, British clinical psychologist Chris Brewin, who supports the repressed-memory theory, characterized the book as being well-researched but biased. He says the author makes unfavorable comments against those he disagrees with; that he accepts arguments that support his theory while criticizing arguments that do not.
Daniel Schacter
Daniel Schacter
Daniel Lawrence Schacter is an American psychologist. He is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research has focused on psychological and biological aspects of human memory and amnesia, with a particular emphasis on the distinction between conscious and nonconscious forms of...
, a Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
psychology professor who has written extensively on the subject of memory, reviewed Pendergrast's book favorably in Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
magazine: " . . an impressive display of scholarship . . . a comprehensive treatment of the recovered-memories controversy . . . Pendergrast demonstrates a laudable ability to lay out all sides of the argument . . renders a sympathetic portrayal of recovery therapists as well-intentioned but misinformed players in a drama that has veered out of control."
Many introductory psychology textbooks now include references to repressed memory and suggestibility
Suggestibility
Suggestibility is the quality of being inclined to accept and act on the suggestions of others.A person experiencing intense emotions tends to be more receptive to ideas and therefore more suggestible. Generally, suggestibility decreases as age increases...
with discussions on the plausibility or implausibility of these concepts, and Pendergrast's scholarship is sometimes cited.
Inside the Outbreak
“Inside the Outbreaks is a rare book of medical history — an intriguing and entirely original account of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, the medical detectives who track down and identify the lethal health threats that plague the United States and the larger world, from AIDS, polio and swine flu, on the one hand, to bogus drugs, contaminated food, and bioterrorism, on the other. Richly detailed and elegantly written, Mark Pendergrast’s account fills an enormous gap in understanding the vital role of epidemiology in safeguarding our future.”- David OshinskyDavid OshinskyDavid M. Oshinsky is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian; he currently holds the Jack S. Blanton chair in history at the University of Texas at Austin and is a distinguished scholar in residence at New York University....
, author of Polio: An American StoryPolio: An American StoryPolio: An American Story is a book by David M. Oshinsky, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, which documents the polio epidemic in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s and the race to find a cure....
See also
- Recovered memory therapyRecovered memory therapyRecovered-memory therapy is a term coined by affiliates of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in the early 1990s, to refer what they described as a range of psychotherapy methods based on recalling memories of abuse that had previously been forgotten by the patient...
- False memory syndrome
- False memories
- Day care sex abuse hysteria
- Covert incestCovert incestThe term covert incest is used by some mental health professionals to describe a relationship between parents and children that is sexualized and expects a child to fulfill adult emotional roles, though without actual incest...