Dean Calbreath Award-Winning Writer
Journalist ∙ Author ∙ Commentator ∙ Educator
Dean Calbreath Award-Winning Writer
Journalist ∙ Author ∙ Commentator ∙ Educator
AUTHOR
"The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said" (2023)
“The Sergeant,” which has been described as “essential reading” by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., tells the incredible but true story of,an African born sergeant in the U.S. Civil War.
Sergeant Nicholas Said was born as Mohammed Ali ben Said, the son of a cavalry general in the thousand-year-old kingdom of Borno in the center of Africa. After being captured by Tuareg raiders when he was in his early teens, he was sold into slavery - first in Libya, then in Turkey - before being purchased and freed by the Russian ambassador to Istanbul.
Throughout the 1850s, Said journeyed through much of the Middle East and Europe, picking up at least nine languages and crossing paths with kings, emperors and tsars, before winding up in the United States on the eve of the Civil War.
After joining the Union Army, he served as a sergeant in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, and after the war, he remained in the South, becoming one of the nation’s first Black voting registrars, helping launch or taught at half a dozen schools for newly freed slaves, and touring the lecture circuit, telling interracial audiences about the “possibilities that may be accomplished by the African.”
For more on this book, including reviews and links to purchase it, see the next page on this site.
CO-AUTHOR
"The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy 'Duke' Cunningham" (2007)
With three colleagues, co-authored a book detailing the Pulitzer-winning probe into the corruption of Rep. Randy Cunningham, who was subsequently sentenced to prison along with two of his bribers.
The Washington Post described it as “an engrossing depiction of the political system that allowed [a Congressman] to fleece America.”
Terry Gross' Fresh Air program on NPR called it “the story of a colorful crooked politician and a look at the practices in Congress that encourage corruption.”
The Politico news site said that "what makes the subject important and the book worth reading [is that] it isn't merely the profile of a public servant who brazenly traded his position for money and extravagant and often tawdry gifts. It also suggests that such misdeeds have consequences that go far beyond one former hero's ethical collapse.”
OTHER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Covered the collapse of the Soviet Union and spent four years in Prague covering Central Europe's transition to democracy.
The Rise of China
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Covered China's stunning rise as an economic superpower as well as political and economic issues in Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
The Middle East after 9/11
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Middle East after 9/11
Within weeks of 9/11, was sent to Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel to gauge the mood on "the Arab street."
U.S. Elections
Business Columnist
The Middle East after 9/11
Covered two U.S. presidential elections as well as changes in state and local politics, such as the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.
The U.S. Economy
Business Columnist
Business Columnist
Covered such issues as jobless rates, real estate, oil prices and the Great Recession. Seen here with economist Paul Krugman.
Business Columnist
Business Columnist
Business Columnist
Wrote an award-winning series of columns on business and the economy for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
EDUCATOR
Teaching Newswriting and Other Skills
Dean Calbreath has taught newswriting at U.C. San Diego and Grossmont College, as well as being a guest lecturer at more than a dozen other colleges and universities, ranging from the University of Missouri at Columbia to Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He is ranked at 4.7 out of 5 on RateMyProfessors.com.
The attached picture shows him talking at an elementary school in China.
