Nash, J(essie) Madeleine 1943-

views updated

NASH, J(essie) Madeleine 1943-

PERSONAL: Born September 11, 1943, in Elizabeth City, NC; daughter of John Vize and Jessie Berry; married E. Thomas Nash (a physicist), June 9, 1970. Education: Bryn Mawr College, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1965.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Athor Mail, Warner Books, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Time, New York, NY, researcher, 1966-70; freelance writer, 1971-74; Time, stringer from Hamburg, Germany, and Chicago, IL, 1970-74, correspondent from Chicago, IL, 1974-87, senior correspondent, 1987-2001; contributor, 2001—.

MEMBER: National Association of Science Writers, Society of Environmental Journalists.

AWARDS, HONORS: Westinghouse Science Journalism award, AAAS, 1988, 1991, and 1996; Page One award, Newspaper Guild of New York, 1981; award from Leukemia Society of America, 1994.

WRITINGS:

Schools Where Parents Make a Difference (edited by Don Davies), Institute for Responsive Education (Boston, MA), 1976.

El Niño: Unlocking the Secrets of the Master Weather-Maker, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: J. Madeleine Nash shed light on an important weather phenomenon with her book El Niño: Unlocking the Secrets of the Master Weather-Maker. In the 1997-1998 season, the storm system known as El Niño affected weather across the globe, frequently with disastrous results for the humans in its path. The El Niño pattern begins with an unusual warming of Pacific ocean waters. The resultant weather changes, aided by air currents and other factors, are capable of triggering tornadoes, snowstorms, hurricanes, and related floods and landslides. Fishermen know that plentiful catches will often disappear before an El Niño event, and terrible outbreaks of fever have also been attributed by the changes caused by this weather pattern. El Niño is an elemental force that has probably existed for ages, but has only been recently recognized by mankind. Scientists are still coming to terms with how closely linked global weather patterns are to the vicissitudes of El Niño, and there is evidence that the system is becoming stronger and more influential due to the effects of global warming. Nash approaches her subject by taking a look at the humans who have studied El Niño and those whose lives have been transformed by its effects. Booklist contributor Gilbert Taylor called El Niño "a well-informed overview" and a good "general-interest introduction" to the subject, and a writer for Science News stated the book is "bursting with new data." Commenting on Nash's anecdotal approach, a Publishers Weekly reviewer credited the author with doing an admirable job of "bringing alive such an abstract, albeit dynamic, system."