Linda Perlstein was born in Milwaukee in 1971. Her own primary school years were spent begging for Calvin Klein jeans and Lucky Charms, spinning the bottle, watching sitcoms, performing in “Annie” and playing Atari. She received a bachelor’s from Wesleyan University in 1992 and a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University in 1994. Linda has three brothers: Steve is a chef, Rick is a writer, and Ben manages rock tours.

Linda worked at The Washington Post from 1994 to 2004, most of that time writing about education and children. In June 2000, Linda wrote a four-part series about life in middle school, which won acclaim and awards, and she decided to explore the subject further, at Wilde Lake Middle School in Columbia, Maryland, for Not Much Just Chillin’. For Tested, Linda spent the 2005-06 school year at Tyler Heights Elementary School in Annapolis.

Linda has also written for the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun op-ed pages, Salon, The Nation, Family Circle, Girls Life, Parents and the Columbia Journalism Review. She coaches writers across the country as the public editor of the Education Writers Association and teaches at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She lives with her husband and son in Baltimore and western Virginia.

Listen to Linda tell the story of how she became Milwaukee's most famous Christmas elf.

Some articles by Linda:

“Wrong Way to Reward Teachers,” The Washington Post op-ed page.

“The New Segregation: Jonathan Kozol Goes Back to School,” Columbia Journalism Review.

“A User’s Guide To Middle School Romance,” The Washington Post Magazine.

“The Issue Left Behind,” The Nation.

“Eating It, Too,” The Washington Post Magazine.

“School Pushes Reading, Writing, Reform,” The Washington Post.

“Talking the Edutalk,” The Washington Post.