James Sturz

New York, NY USA
http://www.jamessturz.com
26 Years Experience

Professional Experience

Travel and food writer, journalist and novelist, published in more than 80 magazines and newspapers. My work has been anthologized in "Italy: The Best Travel Writing from The New York Times" and "Best Food Writing 2007," and has also appeared in Outside, The Atlantic, Afar, GQ, Travel + Leisure, National Geographic Adventure, Conde Nast Traveler, The New York Times Magazine, International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, New York Magazine, The New York Observer, Men's Journal, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Saveur, Lexus, Robb Report, Cigar Aficionado, Scuba Diving, Sport Diver, Islands, and Caribbean Travel & Life, among others. Features, columns and reviews have also appeared in Men's Health, Playboy, Marie Claire, Glamour, Mirabella, Redbook, and Entertainment Weekly. Additionally, my novel, "Sasso," set in Italy and also based on a New York Times travel article, was one of The Sunday Telegraph's top books of 2001 and published in eight countries.

Expertise

Book Author 16 YearsReporter 26 YearsWriter 24 Years

Specialty

Food 26 YearsSports & Recreation 26 YearsTravel 26 Years

Industries

Magazine - Large Consumer/National magazines 26 YearsBook Publishing Consumer 16 YearsNewspaper - National 22 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • Saveur (1-2)
  • Rave (1-2)
  • Sport Diver (1-2)
  • Outside (10+)
  • Reach (10+)
  • Mediabistro (10+)
  • Afar (10+)
  • Fathom (10+)
  • The Atlantic (10+)
  • The Wall Street Journal (10+)
  • Shermans Travel (10+)
  • Ensemble Lifestyles (6-10)
  • New York Magazine (6-10)
  • Scuba Diving (3-5)
  • Robb Report (3-5)
  • National Geographic Adventure (3-5)
  • National Geographic Traveler (3-5)
  • Caribbean Travel + Life (3-5)
  • Hamptons (6-10)
  • Hemispheres (6-10)
  • Islands (3-5)
  • Leite's Culinaria (3-5)
  • Lexus Magazine (3-5)
  • McSweeney's Internet Tendency (1-2)
  • GQ (1-2)
  • Cigar Aficionado (1-2)
  • Culture + Travel (1-2)
  • Executive Travel (1-2)
  • Alimentum Journal (1-2)
  • Atmosphere (1-2)
  • Calabasas/Statement (1-2)
  • Inspirato (1-2)
  • Men's Journal (1-2)
  • Meridian (1-2)
  • Mystery Readers Journal (1-2)
  • Travel + Leisure (1-2)
  • The Huffington Post (1-2)
  • The New York Times (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • ?Whatif! The Innovation Company (1-2)
  • IgoUgo (1-2)
  • Society of American Travel Writers (1-2)
  • The Mall at Short Hills (1-2)

Awards

Best Food Writing 2007 Italy: The Best Travel Writing from The New York Times Solas Award for Travel Writing, 2008 The Best American Sports Writing, Honorable Mention, 2010 and 2012 My work has been translated into 10 languages.

Associations

Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Professional Association of Diving Instructors

Other Work History

Staffer at Vanity Fair, assigning editor at Swing, contributing editor at Manhattan File and Lexus Magazines, guest editor at Blue. Contributing writer at Leite's Culinaria. Contributing writer at Shermans Travel. Travel-writing instructor at Mediabistro in New York. Panelist for National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations My photography has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Outside, Afar, Scuba Diving, Detour, Calabasas/Statement, Reach, and Mondo. Television and radio appearances, seminars, presentations and lectures in the United States, England, Germany and France. Featured speaker at the Italian Cultural Institute (L.A.), Museo ItaloAmericano (S.F.), Calandra Institute of Queens College (N.Y.), and before the Society of American Travel Writers (Memphis). I have reported in more than 50 countries.

Technical Skills

PADI Divemaster; Nitrox, Dry Suit, and Ice Diver; PFI Freediver

Foreign Language Skills

Fluent Italian, proficient Spanish, awkward French

Unions

Authors Guild

Equipment

Digital camera with underwater housing, digital voice recorder, scanner, scuba equipment, enthusiasm, shoes

General

Ready, Set, Goat!
(Afar 1/1/2011)
Goat racing is taken very seriously on the Caribbean island of Tobago, which explains why a $19-million goat-racing stadium was built. I couldn't resist flying down for the championships and a look. And also for some goat curry. Honorable mention in "The Best American Sports Writing 2012."
Everybody into the Bog
(Afar 9/1/2009)
The tale of my trip to Wales to track down my old Welsh au pair and compete in the 2008 World Bog Snorkeling Championships in Llanwrtyd Wells. Winner of honorable mention in "The Best American Sports Writing 2010."
Bubble Up
(Executive Travel 5/1/2009)
The editor asked me to name my five favorite scuba vacations around the world. I didn't say no!
Meat: The Pleasures of Flesh
(Leite's Culinaria 3/1/2007)
I like meat, and that's what this is about. This essay was anthologized in "Best Food Writing 2007."
Arrow Envy
(The Atlantic 1/1/2012)
In August 2011, I traveled to Bhutan to watch the national sport of archery in action. I'm not sure about suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but, boy, those little things are sharp. Plus they shoot them from 476 feet away, twice the Olympic distance.
Via Flaminia
(Robb Report 1/1/2009)
In fall 2008, I drove the back roads between Rome and Milan in a trio of vintage Italian sportscars, including a 1964 Lancia Flaminia Superleggera, a 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, and a 1958 Fiat Abarth Zagato. They all were beautiful, but you never forget your first.
Waiting to Exhale
(The Atlantic 5/1/2012)
In February 2012, I traveled to Hawaii's Big Island to learn to "free dive," or scuba dive without the scuba. My classmates included two Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructors, three triathletes, and a wildlands firefighter who looked like Thor. My goal was to make it to 100 feet, straight-down.