Philip Martin is a columnist and feature writer at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock. His book The Shortstop’s Son was published by the University of Arkansas Press in September 1997. With Rex Nelson, he co-authored The Hillary Factor, a biography of the First Lady in 1993. He was formerly the executive editor of Spectrum Weekly in Little Rock. His work has appeared in The Oxford American, Nerve, Newsweek, The Village Voice and in various other publications. He makes regular guest appearances on CNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews and is an occasional guest on MS-NBC’s Crosstalk program.

Born in Savannah, Georgia , Martin has traveled extensively in this country and Europe. He spent most of 1977 playing pro baseball in Rio de Janeiro and worked his way through Louisiana State University by playing in various rock ‘n’ roll bands. A law school drop-out, he took his first journalism job in Jennings, La. in 1982.

Martin lives in Little Rock with his wife Karen and three big sweet stupid dogs.

(Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)