Neal Peirce

His column has repeatedly broken fresh ground in identifying vital new trends state and local governments and the dynamics of federal/state/local relations. Time magazine called Peirce "the only national chronicler of grass-roots America." His weekly column, syndicated through The Washington Post Writers Group since 1978, appears in over 50 newspapers.

Peirce is a founder of the National Journal, and former political editor (1960-69) of Congressional Quarterly. He is the author of 12 books including "The Book of America: Inside Fifty States Today" (W.W. Norton & Co., 1983; Warner Books, 1984). His latest book is "Citistates: How Urban America Can Prosper in a Competitive World" (Seven Locks Press, 1993). "I'm trying," Peirce says, "to report the best - and worst - of what's happening in our states and communities, to cross-fertilize ideas, to show the amazing new forces at work at the local level, even as the federal government retrenches. Reporting and commentary from the grass roots are needed to give focus, and a national perspective, to what's happening." He is chairman of the Citistates Group, a network of journalists and speakers who believe that successful metropolitan regions are today's key to economic competitiveness and sustainable communities.

Since 1987, 14 "Peirce Reports" on the compelling issues for the future of their individual metropolitan regions have been sponsored by and appeared in such newspapers as The Arizona Republic, Seattle Times, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Raleigh News & Observer and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Peirce has received The Distinguished Urban Journalism Award from the National Urban Coalition in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the cause of America's cities. The American Political Science Association chose Peirce as recipient of the 1986 Carey McWilliams Award "to honor a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics."

Peirce was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and is a graduate of Princeton University. He and his wife Barbara, a textile and fashion designer, have three children. They live in Southwest Washington, D.C. At least two weeks of each month he travels his beat - America's 50 states.