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Keith Thompson is a writer and broadcaster — and father, athlete, and public speaker — who trusts the capacity of individuals to design and direct amazing lives. He was born and raised in Lima, Ohio, a medium-sized industrial town with farmlands just beyond city limits. At 16, he managed Democrat Howard Metzenbaum’s first campaign for the U.S. Senate in five northwest Ohio counties (1970). Two years later, Oklahoma Senator Fred R. Harris appointed Thompson Ohio coordinator of Harris’ short-lived “new populist” campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Subsequently Thompson was elected the youngest delegate to a Democratic national convention in American history, pledged to Sen. George McGovern. Thompson joined the staff of newly elected U.S. Sen. Metzenbaum upon graduating from Ohio State University with a BA degree (English major, political science minor). His early political involvement caught the eye of Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan, who appointed him the youngest member of two gubernatorial policy setting commissions: the Citizens’ Task Force on Youth (1971) and the Governor’s Coordinating Council on Drug Abuse (1973). Recently from a reader: "You political views seem conservative, yet your writing celebrates human potential." My response: "Like it's a contradiction? I start with the premise that individuals are capable of achieving great things. It helps when they don't have to focus on stopping government from taking away their earnings, options, property, and freedom." “I probably would have continued on the political fast track toward running for office, but I needed a break from the addictive enthusiasm of political campaigns,” Thompson says. “I pulled up stakes and headed for northern California where I became a freelance journalist. I loved the work and the weather, and decided to stay.” Thompson credits his work as a journalist, along with “liberalism’s slow slide into absurdity on issue after issue,” as key influences in his changing political perspective in the years to come. “Writing stories on education, parenting, health and fitness, criminal justice, I got to know thoughtful, self possessed people who don’t look to government to solve their problems or give their lives meaning,” Thompson says. “Meanwhile, I watched as liberals — people I once considered my allies — blaming America for everything that goes wrong in the world, while promoting racial and gender privilege in the name of equality and bitter communal division in the name of diversity.” Thompson’s controversial 2005 essay (“Leaving the Left”) voiced his recognition that contemporary liberals had lost its bearings on a whole range of political, social, and cultural concerns. He developed the piece into his 2006 book, Leaving the Left: Moments in the News That Made Me Ashamed to be a Liberal (Sentinel Books). Thompson’s previous books include Angels and Aliens, an interpretive history of the UFO controversy (Addison Wesley, 1991) and To Be a Man, an anthology featuring a variety of authors celebrating the richness of male experience (Tarcher Books, 1991). “Assembling my articles (from the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Psychology Today, etc.) makes me aware how much my writing has changed along with my political perspective,” Thompson says. “Though my early journalism chased multiple sources to get differing views on a given topic, gradually I’ve shifted to more of a ‘this is how I see it’ voice. My blog Sane Nation (currently being revamped; stay tuned) leaves little doubt about my worldview.” Thompson hosted a weekly television talk program, “Vantage Point Youth,” at WLIO in Ohio. He has appeared as a guest or commentator on over 100 radio shows across the United States, including a rare personal interview by Rush Limbaugh. His television appearances include “Larry King Live” on CNN. In recent years he has filled in for talk-radio hosts from California to Florida, and is available for speaking engagements throughout the U.S. A longtime distance runner, Thompson recently completed his first ultra-marathon: a 50 kilometer (31 mile) trail race called The North Face Endurance Challenge. A novice skydiver, he plans to begin working toward getting his AFF rating from the United States Parachuting Association. “Without doubt my most satisfying accomplishment is contributing to bringing new life into the world,” Thompson adds. “My top job is loving my beautiful son and guiding him to be a connected, contributing, happy human being.” |
