Myra MacPherson Biography

Myra MacPherson (born circa 1935) is an American author, biographer, and journalist known for her books and articles about politics, the Vietnam War, feminism, and death and dying. Although her work has appeared in a number of publications, she had a long affiliation with The Washington Post newspaper. She was hired in 1968 by Post executive editor Ben Bradlee to write for the paper's Style section, and remained with the Post for over two decades until 1991. While there, she profiled the Watergate criminals and wrote a series on Vietnam veterans that led to her 1984 book Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation. It was the first trade book to examine post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and, according to Vietnam expert Arnold R. Isaacs, one of the first to "break the long national silence" about the war.