A Brief Biography
Ben Paynter, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, is a frequent contributor to Wired, Details, and Fast Company. His features have been anthologized in several books, including Best of Technology Writing 2008 (Univ. of Michigan Press) for a piece on meteor farming—from cultivation to bringing the crop to market, Best Food Writing 2008 (Da Capo Press, Perseus Books Group) for his engaging look at the growing cloned meat industry, as well as Best American Sports Writing (Houghton Mifflin) for saddling up next to cowboys struggling for machismo on the gay rodeo circuit. He earned a first-place Maggie Award for scouting a reality-TV star who spun his vice bust into a showbiz comeuppance, and a first-place Hearst Award for tracking the reclusive author of Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon.