Born: 1945
Ohio connection: Birth
Cleveland
Ted Schwarz was born Theodore R. Schwarz in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the son of Theodore R. and Ruth Dorothy. Ted Schwarz attended Case Western Reserve University, 1964-66, 1971; New York Institute of Photography, 1965; and The University of the South School of Theology, 1992-1995. Ted Schwarz is a prolific writer who has authored and coauthored more than 100 books on a wide range of subjects that include, among others: photography, biography, coin collecting, ethics in the media, faith healing, gun safety, and writing. His work has been on the New York Times and various international best seller lists, and his books have been published in more than 10 languages.
Ted Schwarz began his career as a comedy writer for radio. He worked for the National Broadcasting Company in 1966; Storer Broadcasting Company, 1966-1974; and Westinghouse Broadcasting Company,1967-1970. He also worked as a reporter for theAkron Beacon Journal, 1967-1969, and as a commercial photographer for Communication Unlimited, 1968-80. He became a writing instructor, working for Pima College, 1976-87; Yavapi College, 1982-1987 and Northern Arizona University, 1984-87.
In 1985 Zondervan Publishing House released DeLorean, a biography written by Schwarz with John DeLorean. It became Schwarz’s first New York Times Best Seller. His first international best seller was The Peter Lawford Story: Life with the Kennedys, Monroe, and the Rat Pack (Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1988). It was written with Patricia Seaton Lawford, Peter Lawford’s widow. Schwarz’s works also include true crime, most notably The Hillside Strangler: A Murderer’s Mind (Doubleday 1981). He has authored and coauthored numerous biographies, often with someone close to the subject, or as autobiographies with the subject of the book. In addition to his many books, Mr. Schwarz has written more than 3,000 articles and short stories for magazines throughout the world, including Family Circle, Stern (Germany), and publications in Australia, Italy and France. Several of his books have been made into television movies and documentaries.
Ted Schwarz’s impressive literary career is also evidenced by his success as a ghostwriter. He has “ghosted” books on art, business, and cooking. Of his talent for ghostwriting, Mr. Schwarz has said that his specialty is having “the ability to master another person’s story, then communicate it both effectively and so the reader feels he/she is experiencing the subject’s original work, not something ghosted.”
Mr. Schwarz lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, Leslie, and their three sons, Raheem Thomas, Lawrence Dumaush, and William Demarius.