John Buckley is the author of the novels Family Politics (1988) and Statute of Limitations (1990). In 2010, The Business of Happiness by Ted Leonsis with John Buckley became a bestseller. He has held senior positions in three U.S. presidential campaigns, and been the top communications executive at companies including AOL. He started his career as a rock critic writing for NY Rocker, the Soho Weekly News, Village Voice, National Review, and Rolling Stone, and for a decade has published the blog Tulip Frenzy: Commentary On Music (Mostly), With An Occasional Photo. His photo gallery, Tulip Frenzy Photography, is continually updated. He is currently CEO of Subject Matter, the creative content and advertising agency + government relations firm, and lives in Washington, D.C. and Wilson, Wyoming with his wife, Anna Bennett, and son, Will.
The Geography Lesson 
Ted was my great grandfather, so I find that he appears in a “novel” to be absolutely fascinating. I read some of it online, and while I think that the book paints him somewhat accurately, I did take issue with some of the characterizations (particularly with the description of him as fearful of being surrounded by black people). I’d be interested to know what the motivations were behind writing this novel, and whether Buckley ever met Ted in person.
Buckley replies: The motivation for the book was wanting to write a comic novel about one of DC’s most powerful institutions that no novelist, to my knowledge, had written about. Research indicated NatGeo went into near lockdown after the ’68 riots. Any references to Ted Vosburgh was meant to be historically accurate about his role as editor, but not knowing him, of course we took liberties. No offense intended!