Robert Lipsyte is an award-winning journalist and novelist. He began his career as a copyboy at The New York Times, eventually serving as a long-time sports columnist and coverage critic. Lipsyte was a correspondent for CBS and NBC, and won an Emmy Award hosting the PBS show, The Eleventh Hour. As an author, he is renowned for his influential young adult novel, The Contender, and the seminal sports critique, SportsWorld. His extensive experience also includes serving as ESPN’s ombudsman and teaching journalism at New York University. Lipsyte graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in journalism in 1959.