{{Short description|American academic}} {{Infobox person | name = Sandra Mackey | birth_name = Sandra Sherman | birth_date = September 13, 1937 | birth_place= Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. | death_date = {{dda|2015|4|19|1937|9|13}} | death_place= Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | spouse = Dan | children = 1 | alma_mater = University of Central Oklahoma (BA)<br>University of Virginia (MA) | occupation = writer, commentator | notable_works = ''Lebanon: Death of a Nation'' }} '''Sandra Mackey''' (''née'' '''Sherman'''; September 13, 1937 – April 19, 2015) was an American writer on Middle Eastern culture and politics.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|title=Obituary: Sandra Mackey|url=http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Sandra-S.-Mackey-102396350|accessdate=July 6, 2017|work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|publisher=Tributes.com|date=April 20, 2015|language=en}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Mackey was born Sandra Sherman in Oklahoma City, the daughter of funeral directors Velt Sherman Verna Richie Sherman.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Mackey, Sandra 1937-|journal=Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/mackey-sandra-1937|accessdate=6 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
Mackey first earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Central Oklahoma, followed by an M.A. in International Affairs from the University of Virginia.
==Career== Mackey taught political science at Georgia State University. She served as a visiting scholar in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia. Her writings appeared in such periodicals as the ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and ''The Christian Science Monitor''.<ref name="obit"/>
In addition to appearing on ''NPR'', ''Nightline'', ''ABC News with Peter Jennings'' and the BBC, she served as a commentator on the first Gulf War for CNN. Her book ''Lebanon: Death of a Nation'' was named to ''The New York Times'' list of Notable Books of 1989. {{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
==Death== Mackey died on April 19, 2015, aged 77. She and her husband, Dan, had a son, Colin, who survives his mother.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/20/us/sandra-mackey-obituary|title=Famed Middle East writer Sandra Mackey dies|last1=Griffiths|first1=Richard|last2=Yan|first2=Holly|date=April 20, 2015|work=CNN|access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref>
==Selected works== {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?170827-1/sandra-mackey-the-reckoning-2002 ''Booknotes'' interview with Mackey on ''The Reckoning'', July 7, 2002], C-SPAN| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?175970-1/the-reckoning Presentation by Mackey on ''The Reckoning'', April 1, 2003], C-SPAN}} Books written by Sandra Mackey include: * ''The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom'', W. W. Norton and Co., New York, 1987; {{ISBN|0-395-41165-3}}. ** Updated edition issued in 2002; {{ISBN|0-393-32417-6}} pbk * ''Lebanon: Death of a Nation'', W.W. Norton and Co., New York, 1989; {{ISBN|0-393-32843-0}}. * ''Passion and Politics: The Turbulent World of the Arabs'', Penguin Group, New York, 1992; {{ISBN|0-525-93499-5}} * ''The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation'', Penguin Group, New York, 1996; {{ISBN|0-452-27563-6}} * ''The Reckoning: Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein'', W. W. Norton, New York, 2003; {{ISBN|0-393-32428-1}} * ''Lebanon: a House Divided'', W. W. Norton, New York, 2006; {{ISBN|0-393-32843-0}} * ''Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict'', W. W. Norton, New York, 2008; {{ISBN|978-0-393-06218-2}}
==See also== {{Portal|Biography|Saudi Arabia}} * Iranian studies
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{C-SPAN|1000506}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060903000520/http://www.ihc.ucsb.edu/events/event_files/past/_fall2002/mackey/index.shtml Lecture at University of California Santa Barbara (introduction)], ihc.ucsb.edu; accessed April 21, 2015. {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackey, Sandra}} Category:2015 deaths Category:1937 births Category:Writers from Oklahoma City Category:University of Virginia alumni Category:Georgia State University alumni Category:International relations scholars Category:American women political scientists Category:20th-century American writers Category:20th-century American women writers Category:21st-century American writers Category:21st-century American women writers Category:University of Central Oklahoma alumni