John Frece: Self-Destruction
Join The Ivy for an evening of state history with John Frece and his book SELF-DESTRUCTION, a biography of U.S. Senator Daniel B. Brewster! Frece, a former reporter and Maryland State House Bureau Chief for the Baltimore Sun, will discuss his highly researched, compelling story of how Senator Brewster quietly found equilibrium and happiness in a life filled with enormous highs and lows.
John W. Frece spent about half of his career as a newspaper and wire service reporter and half working for the state and federal government. Knowledgeable about Maryland political history, he has written three previous books, including co-writing the autobiographies of former Maryland Governor Harry R. Hughes and former Maryland U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings. Drawing from his experience as a gubernatorial aide, Frece also wrote an insider’s view of the political machinations behind Maryland’s controversial land use policy known as smart growth.
Frece is a former reporter and Maryland State House Bureau Chief for the Baltimore Sun (1984-1995) and United Press International (1978-1984). He also covered the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond for UPI and was an editor, reporter and photographer for the Reston Times, a weekly newspaper in Fairfax County, VA. He later worked on the staff of the Governor of Maryland, at a University of Maryland academic research center, and as director of the smart growth office within the US Environmental Protection Agency during the first five years of the Obama administration.
Frece is married to the children’s book author, Priscilla Cummings, and they have two grown children, Will and Hannah, two grandsons and two cats. Frece graduated from the College of William & Mary in Virginia in 1969 and was honorably discharged as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1971.
His other books include:
“My Life in Progressive Politics: Against the Grain,” by former U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings with John W. Frece, Foreword by Joe Biden, Texas A&M University Press, May 2018.
“Sprawl and Politics: The Story of Smart Growth in Maryland,” by John W. Frece, State University of New York Press, 2008.
“My Unexpected Journey: The Autobiography of Governor Harry Roe Hughes,” by Governor Harry Roe Hughes with John W. Frece, The History Press, August 2006.
