Darcy Frey | |
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Born | United States |
Occupation | Writer, English Department Faculty at Harvard University |
Darcy Frey is an American writer from New York. Best known for his 1994 book The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams, Frey has published articles in New England Monthly, Rolling Stone, Harper's, and The New York Times Magazine. He was a contributing editor at Harper's and The New York Times Magazine and the winner of a National Magazine Award and the Livingston Award. Both awards were for "The Last Shot," a 1993 article published in Harper's that Frey developed into his first book. The article was included in The Best American Essays 1994. Frey graduated from Oberlin College in 1983.
Frey refers to his writing as "narrative non-fiction". Meticulous research and crisp prose bolster the cornerstone of his work: his eye for intriguing, sometimes obscure, subjects. For example, he observed Long Island air traffic controllers for five months to write "Something's Got to Give", a piece published in The New York Times Magazine. The article inspired the film Pushing Tin. Frey has also written about environmental topics, such as global warming. He profiled George Divoky, a research scientist in the Arctic, for "George Divoky's Planet," which appeared in The New York Times Magazine in 2002. The article inspired the National Theatre of Great Britain's production of "Greenland" and was included in "The Best American Science Writing 2002."
Frey has taught literary nonfiction writing at the University of Chicago, Columbia University's Graduate Writing Program and Harvard University.
Frey published a single book entitled The Last Shot, about basketball and the game's effect on urban youth. Beginning in the summer of 1991, Frey spent nine months with members of the Abraham Lincoln High School basketball team. The school, located in Coney Island, is well known for its basketball program. One of the players Frey followed, Stephon Marbury, has been an NBA All-Star and was a player for the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics before playing in China.