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Writer, author
Alison Buckholtzhas been a writer for 10 years, publishing articles and essays in the New York Times, Washington Post and Washington Post Magazine, New York Magazine, Forbes Global, the Jerusalem Report, Washingtonian Magazine, the Independent on Sunday (U.K.), Salon.com and many other publications. Her memoir, "Standing By: The Making of an American Military Family in a Time of War," was published by Tarcher/Penguin in April 2009. She also wrote "The Good Day: Having Fun When Dad's Away," which will be published in an illustrated children's anthology by Elva Resa Publishing in 2010.
Alison Buckholtz: Photo by Scott MoranEnlarge this imageShe has written newspaper and magazine articles about her experiences as a military wife. The essays "The Picture of Happiness" (Real Simple Magazine, July 2008), "A Father on Poster Board Just Won't Do" (The New York Times, April 8, 2007), and "Once Upon a Time, Dad Went to War" (Salon.com, April 11, 2008) probe the challenges associated with raising a military family in a time of war.
In particular, the New York Times essay "A Father on Poster Board Just Won't Do," published as that week's Modern Love column, generated tremendous interest. The essay focused on her family's confusion over Flat Daddy, a cardboard cutout of the children's father used to comfort them during his absences. Alison received dozens of letters in response to that piece, which prompted her to begin writing Standing By.
Alison is a communications consultant for SPARC, a Washington, DC-based initiative of the Association of Research Libraries. She was associate director of SPARC before becoming a consultant. Previous to her work there, she was a public relations specialist for agencies in the high-tech field, and a publicist for Faber and Faber Publishers, Inc.
She received an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in English Literature (Honors, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She also completed a year of undergraduate study at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1997-98 she lived in Jerusalem, Israel as a recipient of a Dorot Foundation postgraduate fellowship. She is a member of the National Military Family Association, the Navy League, and Military Reporters and Editors.
Following tours in Japan and in Washington, DC, Alison now lives in Anacortes, Washington with her husband, a U.S. Navy pilot, and two young children.
