Richard Lawson (writer)

Richard Lawson (born 1982/1983)[1] is an American writer and critic. He rose to prominence as an entertainment writer for Gawker and was named chief critic for Vanity Fair in 2018. Lawson's debut YA novel, All We Can Do Is Wait, was released in February 2018.[2]

Richard Lawson
Born1982/1983 (age 37–38)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation
  • Critic
  • blogger
  • novelist
EducationBoston College
Period2007–present
GenreYoung adult
Subjects
  • Film
  • popular culture

Life and career

Lawson was raised in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, and attended Boston Latin School[3] and Boston College, before moving to New York City.[4]

Lawson began his writing career at Gawker in 2007. Initially hired onto Gawker's ad sales team, Lawson secretly began participating in Gawker's active comments section under the handle LolCait, where his writing gained the attention of the editorial staff.[5][1] After revealing his identity, he began providing editorial content for the site, first by selecting the week's best comments, and eventually becoming a full-time editor.[1] Lawson gained notice for his television recaps for shows such as The Real Housewives of New York City.[6][7] His posts were the most popular on the site, where they garnered 2.4 million viewers each month.[8] He left in July 2009 to work at TV.com for five months, before returning to Gawker. Lawson left the site for the second time in late 2011 to work for The Atlantic Wire as a senior entertainment and culture writer.[8][6]

In November 2013, Lawson left The Atlantic Wire to work as the Hollywood columnist at Vanity Fair.[9] Four months later, he was hired as the magazine's TV and film critic.

Lawson's debut novel, All We Can Do Is Wait,[10] was released on February 6, 2018 under Razorbill.[11] The book is a YA novel that centers on a group of teenagers in the waiting room of a hospital after a bridge collapse. All We Can Do Is Wait received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly.[2]

In March 2018, he became Vanity Fair's chief critic.[12]

Personal life

Lawson, who is openly gay,[13] wrote an article that went viral about the personal significance of openly gay Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon during the 2018 Winter Olympics.[14]

References
  1. Salkin, Allen (September 30, 2007). "All-Stars of the Clever Riposte". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  2. "In Conversation: Mary H.K. Choi and Richard Lawson". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  3. "Alumni Authors". Boston Latin School. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  4. Lawson, Richard (March 7, 2013). "Come On, Boston's Not So Bad". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  5. Gould, Emily. "LolCait's Presidential Suite". Gawker. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  6. "Crossing the 'Atlantic': Richard Lawson Departs Gawker, Part Deux". Observer. October 25, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  7. Shafrir, Doree. "Stories To Remember Gawker By". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  8. Park, Ji Hyun. "Why Richard Lawson Left Gawker For Atlantic Wire". www.adweek.com. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  9. Adams, Sam (March 24, 2014). "Richard Lawson Upped to Film Critic at Vanity Fair". IndieWire. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  10. Lawson, Richard (Film critic) (2018). All we can do is wait : a novel. New York. ISBN 9780448494111. OCLC 986977382.
  11. "Read An Excerpt From Richard Lawson's Upcoming YA Novel 'All We Can Do Is Wait'". EW.com. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  12. Kelly, Keith J. (March 28, 2018). "Radhika Jones finally hires a deputy at Vanity Fair". New York Post. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  13. "Richard Lawson on Twitter".
  14. "The Bittersweet Beauty Of U.S. Figure Skater Adam Rippon". All Things Considered. NPR. February 15, 2018.
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