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Steven Long

Steven Long

Lifelong journalist and author Steven Long brings a national reputation and talent for making special things happen to his new project, Horseback Magazine, now in the creative process. He has guided Texas HorseTalk to become one of the nation's most respected regional publications targeting the recreational horseman.

Long is a triple threat. He is an editor, journalist, and entrepreneur most famous for his books on some of the most sensational true crime events in the nation.

His most recent book, Every Woman's Nightmare, (St. Martin's Press) tells the story of the fairytale marriage and cold blooded murder of Utah's Lori Hacking, whose body was left in a city dump to rot. She was killed in her sleep by her husband Mark after catching him in the lie that he was about to begin medical school. The book has sparked heated opposition from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons.

Steven's true crime tale, Out of Control, (St. Martin's Press), chronicled the strange murder of Dr. David Harris by his wife Clara. Long's story, set in a wealthy suburb of Houston, is not a typical grisly true crime paperback. He tells the tale of a woman who loved too much, so much that she was willing to kill to keep her man from his paramour.

In his first book, Death Without Dignity, (Texas Monthly Press, 1987) Steven Long wrote the sad story of catastrophic failure in a nursing home. The work prompted the Austin American-Statesman to call it the "literary equivalent of the movie Platoon." The book won a State Bar of Texas Gavel Award for distinguished journalism. Yet among the numerous awards he has received throughout his career, Steven Long is still most proud of the merit badge for journalism that he received as a Boy Scout when his first story was published in his hometown paper at age 11.

Death Without Dignity is found in the libraries of many medical and nursing schools. However, it is not a dry factual tome. Instead it is true crime writing at its best, reminiscent of the style of the late Tommy Thompson.

Long began his career in radio but quickly moved to print. For most of 11 years, he served as editor and publisher of Galveston's In Between Magazine, an award-winning alternative weekly famed for its gritty investigative work. His first freelance piece appeared in the respected Texas Observer.

In the 1982 Texas election for governor, Steven Long asked the incumbent, Bill Clements, a question that changed the state's history. "Would you appoint a consumer, for example, a housewife, to the Texas Public Utilities Commission?" The governor blundered and answered, "There isn't a housewife in Texas qualified to serve on the PUC." He lost the election.

After closing In Between, Steven Long carved out a career as a feature writer with the Houston Chronicle. One article resulted in the indictment, conviction and disbarment of the late Houston adoption lawyer Leslie Thacker for buying and selling crack babies in several Texas county jails. Another series of investigative stories ultimately resulted in the indictment and conviction of the head librarian of the oldest medical school west of the Mississippi for stealing rare and historic medical texts, some dating to the sixteenth century. He exposed the Texas prison system's wholesale practice of allowing the use of inmates as subjects for medical residents to hone their skills in cosmetic surgery at a state teaching hospital.

Steven Long covered the Andrea Yates murder case for the New York Post from the scene to conviction. For the same paper, he found rogue CEO Ken Lay who hid for ten days when the Enron scandal broke. He covered the lengthy and complex trial of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for Agence France Presse, as well as Crain's Chicago Business. He has appeared on "Inside Edition," the "CBS Early Show" and "Catherine Crier Live", as well as "Mugshots" on Court TV. Steven worked as a consultant to "Dateline's" segment on the sensational Robert Durst Case. He has appeared on "Northwest Afternoon" on ABC/KOMO in Seattle. Steven appeared on the E Network's series, "Women Who Kill." Long served as courtroom analyst and special correspondent with CNBC for its gavel to gavel coverage of the Lay/Skilling Enron trial. During the proceedings he frequently appeared on the popular business channel's "Squawk Box" and "Power Lunch" programs as well as on the "NBC Nightly News" with Brian Williams. Steven and his adopted horse Façade have appeared on Animal Planet's "Animal Cops Houston." Façade is an SPCA rescue animal. Steven and his wife Vicki recently adopted Flying Algonquin, a retired race horse saved from slaughter.

An avid horseman, he has been a contributor to Western Horseman magazine. His work has appeared frequently in the Houston Press. Steven Long is a regular contributor to the respected true crime forum, In Cold Blog, http://incoldblogger.blogspot.com. His most recent journalism award came from the American Quarter Horse Association for his "Hoofbeats on Hollow Ground" which appeared in the respected Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. Besides his writing career, Steven Long holds a certification in corporate community relations from the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College.

Steven Long is a co-founder of the National Alliance of Urban Literacy Coalitions (Literacy USA), and completed three terms on the national board of CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates Association, based in Seattle. CASA volunteers throughout the nation help the courts place abused and neglected children in safe and permanent homes. He currently serves on the organization's prestigious Emeritus Advisory Board. As part of his work with CASA, he quietly advised the national organization on media strategy during the aftermath of the raid on the FLDS compound at Eldorado, Texas.

Steven and Vicki Long, a fiction writer, live in Houston, Texas. Both serve on the board of the Greater Houston Horse Council.