Susan B. Trento

Susan B.Trento is an author and journalist who began her career on staffs in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. In Congress she was the youngest chief of staff of a Congressional office at the time. Her investigations into space shuttle safety issues led to her coauthoring Prescription for Disaster, a history of NASA leading up to the Challenger disaster. She also co-authored Widows, a history of counterintelligence. Her book Power House, about the lobbying and public relations industries in Washington, was compared by critics to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Jessica Mitford’s American Way of Death, because it looked at the issue of lobbying and influence peddling in a revolutionary way. She also has taught graduate writing at American University’s School of Communication. She cofounded in 2000 and is the managing partner of Film and Ink Productions, which has produced four books.