John Lantigua (born 1947) is an American journalist and crime
novelist. His journalism awards include the Pulitzer Prize, 1999, for
work on voter fraud while at The Miami Herald; the Robert F. Kennedy
Journalism Award, 2004 and 2006, and the National Hispanic Journalists
Award for Investigative Reporting, 2004 and 2006, for work on
immigration issues while writing for The Palm Beach Post. Lantigua is
also the author of seven novels, including the a crime series starring
Willie Cuesta, a Cuban American private investigator based in Miami.
His novels have been well-reviewed in The New York Times, Washington
Post and other periodicals. Lantigua currently resides in Florida.John
Lantigua was born in 1947 in the Bronx to Spanish-speaking parents.
His mother was from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, and his father from
Matanzas, Cuba. When Lantigua was four years old, his family moved to
Ridgewood, New Jersey, where he learned to speak English. He now has
one son and two daughters, Edwina, Ana and Douglas Lantigua. Thanks to
Douglas, John has two granddaughters, Ella Lantigua and Lela
Lantigua.Lantigua began his journalism career at The Hartford Courant,
the largest newspaper in Connecticut, at age 21. He covered Hartford's
large Puerto Rican and Black populations for three years. At age 25,
he moved to Oaxaca, Mexico where for two years he worked as a mountain
guide in the Sierra Madre, leading camping trips. He later lived two
years in the city of Oaxaca where he taught English and theater and
was a member of El Grupo Rodolfo Alvarez, the city's municipal theater
company.In 1982, Lantigua returned to journalism, working for United
Press International in Honduras, 1982â€"83, and later Nicaragua,
1983â€"84, before reporting for The Washington Post and other
publications from Nicaragua in 1984â€"85. Lantigua reported on the
Contra War in Nicaragua and also wrote from El Salvador and Costa
Rica. From 1993 to 1998, Lantigua worked for The Miami Herald where he
was a general assignment reporter. He also formed part of the
investigative team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative
Reporting for its coverage of corruption in the 1997 Miami mayoral
election. From 1999 to 2002, Lantigua freelanced, covering the Elian
Gonzalez affair in Miami for Salon; the Bush-Gore election controversy
for The Nation; and the 9/11 terrorists' presence in Florida for
Newsweek. In 2002, he joined The Palm Beach Post as a Miami-based
reporter, specializing in immigration. His account of being smuggled
across the Arizona desert and across the country to Florida formed
part of a series of articles written by an investigative team that won
the Kennedy Award, the National Hispanic Journalists Award and the
Harry Chapin World Hunger Year Prize in 2004. That team also produced
a series in 2005 about birth defects and other injuries caused by
pesticides, largely among immigrant field hands in Florida, which
again won the Kennedy and Hispanic Journalists awards in 2006. That
reporting led to changes in laws governing the use of pesticides.
novelist. His journalism awards include the Pulitzer Prize, 1999, for
work on voter fraud while at The Miami Herald; the Robert F. Kennedy
Journalism Award, 2004 and 2006, and the National Hispanic Journalists
Award for Investigative Reporting, 2004 and 2006, for work on
immigration issues while writing for The Palm Beach Post. Lantigua is
also the author of seven novels, including the a crime series starring
Willie Cuesta, a Cuban American private investigator based in Miami.
His novels have been well-reviewed in The New York Times, Washington
Post and other periodicals. Lantigua currently resides in Florida.John
Lantigua was born in 1947 in the Bronx to Spanish-speaking parents.
His mother was from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, and his father from
Matanzas, Cuba. When Lantigua was four years old, his family moved to
Ridgewood, New Jersey, where he learned to speak English. He now has
one son and two daughters, Edwina, Ana and Douglas Lantigua. Thanks to
Douglas, John has two granddaughters, Ella Lantigua and Lela
Lantigua.Lantigua began his journalism career at The Hartford Courant,
the largest newspaper in Connecticut, at age 21. He covered Hartford's
large Puerto Rican and Black populations for three years. At age 25,
he moved to Oaxaca, Mexico where for two years he worked as a mountain
guide in the Sierra Madre, leading camping trips. He later lived two
years in the city of Oaxaca where he taught English and theater and
was a member of El Grupo Rodolfo Alvarez, the city's municipal theater
company.In 1982, Lantigua returned to journalism, working for United
Press International in Honduras, 1982â€"83, and later Nicaragua,
1983â€"84, before reporting for The Washington Post and other
publications from Nicaragua in 1984â€"85. Lantigua reported on the
Contra War in Nicaragua and also wrote from El Salvador and Costa
Rica. From 1993 to 1998, Lantigua worked for The Miami Herald where he
was a general assignment reporter. He also formed part of the
investigative team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative
Reporting for its coverage of corruption in the 1997 Miami mayoral
election. From 1999 to 2002, Lantigua freelanced, covering the Elian
Gonzalez affair in Miami for Salon; the Bush-Gore election controversy
for The Nation; and the 9/11 terrorists' presence in Florida for
Newsweek. In 2002, he joined The Palm Beach Post as a Miami-based
reporter, specializing in immigration. His account of being smuggled
across the Arizona desert and across the country to Florida formed
part of a series of articles written by an investigative team that won
the Kennedy Award, the National Hispanic Journalists Award and the
Harry Chapin World Hunger Year Prize in 2004. That team also produced
a series in 2005 about birth defects and other injuries caused by
pesticides, largely among immigrant field hands in Florida, which
again won the Kennedy and Hispanic Journalists awards in 2006. That
reporting led to changes in laws governing the use of pesticides.
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