Glenna Whitley

An award-winning investigative reporter, Glenna Whitley specializes in writing about crime and the legal system. A staff writer for the Dallas Observer since November 2003, she’s been executive editor and senior writer for D Magazine and a feature writer for the Dallas Morning News. Whitley’s freelance work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including Texas Monthly, Penthouse, Glamour, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, More, New York Times, Town & Country and many more. She is co-author with B. G. Burkett of the acclaimed nonfiction book Stolen Valor about the Vietnam War, published in 1998. The subject of three segments for TV newsmagazine “20/20,” including one that won a CINE Award, Stolen Valor received the 2000 William E. Colby Award for writing on military affairs at Norwich University. The subject of hundreds of stories in magazines and newspapers, Stolen Valor is now in development as a TV series. Her story “Crazy White Mother,” published in the Dallas Observer, received the prestigious Texas Headliner’s Award for investigative journalism in 2003, her third such award. The judges said: “This is a remarkable example of hard-digging reporting on an elusive subject, delivered in a fast-moving narrative form that tells an amazing tale with color and clarity.” In addition, “Crazy White Mother” was a finalist for the 2003 Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award. Whitley’s story “Evil Eyes,” the saga of serial killer Coral Eugene Watts published in June 2003 by the Dallas Observer, was featured in an anthology of the best writing from alternative newspapers published by Penguin in 2005. Another story was included in D Magazine’s Dallas: The 30 Greatest Stories Ever Told, published September 2004. Whitley has received numerous awards for investigative reporting on criminal affairs from the Texas Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Press Club and the City and Regional Magazine Association. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Whitley lives in Dallas with her husband Peter and two sons, Eric and Andrew.

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