# Michael Brick > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Brick > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Brick.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brick > Source revision: 1217416367 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American journalist}} '''Christopher Michael Brick''' (June 21, 1974 – February 8, 2016) was an American journalist and songwriter. He worked as a freelance writer and as a writer for ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)''. Brick was working for the ''[Houston Chronicle](/source/Houston_Chronicle)'' at the time of his death from cancer. ==Biography== Born in [Cheverly, Maryland](/source/Cheverly%2C_Maryland), Brick moved to Dallas as a teenager. He graduated from [R. L. Turner High School](/source/R._L._Turner_High_School) in [Carrollton](/source/Carrollton%2C_Texas) and the [University of Texas at Austin](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin). Brick worked as a research assistant for [Kurt Eichenwald](/source/Kurt_Eichenwald) on the book ''[The Informant](/source/The_Informant_(book))''. "Pretty soon, not only was he doing everything exceptionally, but I began to recognize his writing skills, which I hadn't been paying attention to. By the time he was finished working with me, it became clear to me that on a lot of levels he was better than me," Eichenwald said.{{cite web|last1=Schiller|first1=Dane|title=Michael Brick, songwriter and journalist, remembered|url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Michael-Brick-6815603.php|publisher=[Houston Chronicle](/source/Houston_Chronicle)|accessdate=March 29, 2016|date=February 9, 2016}} Brick was on the staff of ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' from 2001 to 2008. He covered events including the [Enron scandal](/source/Enron_scandal) and [Hurricane Katrina](/source/Hurricane_Katrina) with ''The New York Times''. He became a freelance writer in 2008.{{cite web|title=In memoriam|url=http://moody.utexas.edu/features/memoriam|publisher=[University of Texas at Austin](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin)|accessdate=March 29, 2016}} In 2013 and 2014, he was an adviser for ''[The Daily Texan](/source/The_Daily_Texan)'', the student newspaper for which he had written when he attended UT Austin.{{cite web|last1=Zhang|first1=Amy|title=Former Texan adviser Michael Brick dies at age 41|url=http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2016/02/09/former-texan-adviser-michael-brick-dies-at-age-41|publisher=[The Daily Texan](/source/The_Daily_Texan)|accessdate=March 29, 2016|date=February 9, 2016}} He joined the ''[Houston Chronicle](/source/Houston_Chronicle)'' in 2014, and published a column known as The Sporting Life. Brick's 2012 book, ''Saving the School: The True Story of a Principal, a Teacher, a Coach, a Bunch of Kids, and a Year in the Crosshairs of Education Reform'', told the story of the struggling [Reagan High School](/source/John_H._Reagan_High_School_(Austin%2C_Texas)) in [Austin, Texas](/source/Austin%2C_Texas).{{cite web|last1=Whittaker |first1=Richard |title=Education reporter Michael Brick dead |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/arts/2016-02-08/education-reporter-michael-brick-dead/ |publisher=[The Austin Chronicle](/source/The_Austin_Chronicle) |accessdate=March 29, 2016 |date=February 8, 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320053554/http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/arts/2016-02-08/education-reporter-michael-brick-dead/ |archivedate=March 20, 2016 }} Brick followed several teachers, a number of students, and the principal of the school as he was writing the book.{{cite news|last1=Mooney|first1=Michael J.|title=Local author writes book that could change American education forever|url=http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2012/08/30/local-author-writes-book-that-could-change-american-education-forever/|work=[D Magazine](/source/D_Magazine)|date=August 30, 2012|accessdate=March 29, 2016}} Patrick Welsh of ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'' said that the book "is a compelling, enlightening account of a school community rising to save itself."{{cite news|last1=Welsh|first1=Patrick|title="Saving the School: The True Story of a Principal, a Teacher, a Coach, a Bunch of Kids and a Year in the Crosshairs of Education Reform" by Michael Brick|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/saving-the-school-the-true-story-of-a-principal-a-teacher-a-coach-a-bunch-of-kids-and-a-year-in-the-crosshairs-of-education-reform-by-michael-brick/2012/08/24/346d4b6e-eadb-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html|accessdate=March 29, 2016|newspaper=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)|date=August 24, 2012}} Brick wrote music and played guitar and mandolin. In college, he formed a band known as Bottle of Smoke, and later in Brooklyn, he started another band in Brooklyn called The Music Grinders. He died of [colon cancer](/source/colon_cancer) in 2016.{{cite news|last1=Slotnik|first1=Daniel|title=Michael Brick, former Times reporter, dies at 41|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/business/media/michael-brick-former-times-reporter-dies-at-41.html|accessdate=March 29, 2016|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=February 8, 2016}} He was survived by his wife and three children. ==References== {{reflist|30em}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Brick, Michael}} Category:American male songwriters Category:1974 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in Texas Category:The New York Times journalists Category:Houston Chronicle people --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Michael Brick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brick) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brick?action=history)). 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