Philly Dame

Tad Friend is the author of the memoir Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor (2009, Little, Brown and Company), which came out in September, and Lost in Mongolia: Travels in Hollywood and Other Foreign Lands (2001, AtRandom), a collection of his articles.

He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998, and writes the magazine's "Letter from California." Mr Friend's recent pieces have included articles about Hollywood's marketing tricks, the electric-car and rocket-ship entrepreneur Elon Musk, the man in charge of executions at San Quentin, and the man who hopes to introduce "green burial" to American cemeteries. He has also written profiles of William Morris agent David Wirtschafter, screenwriter Ron Bass, and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. His article on suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge, "Jumpers," inspired the song "Jumpers" by the band Sleater-Kinney, and was turned into a documentary film, "The Bridge."

His work has also appeared in The Best American Travel Writing, The Best American Sports Writing, and The Best American Crime Reporting.

Mr. Friend is married to the New York Times food columnist Amanda Hesser. They live in Brooklyn with their young twins.