Skip Navigation
James Fallows

James Fallows - James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States, and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. His latest book, China Airborne, was published in early May.
More

James Fallows is based in Washington as a national correspondent for The Atlantic. He has worked for the magazine for nearly 30 years and in that time has also lived in Seattle, Berkeley, Austin, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, and Beijing. He was raised in Redlands, California, received his undergraduate degree in American history and literature from Harvard, and received a graduate degree in economics from Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. In addition to working for The Atlantic, he has spent two years as chief White House speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, two years as the editor of US News & World Report, and six months as a program designer at Microsoft. He is an instrument-rated private pilot. He is also now the chair in U.S. media at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, in Australia.

Fallows has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award five times and has won once; he has also won the American Book Award for nonfiction and a N.Y. Emmy award for the documentary series Doing Business in China. He was the founding chairman of the New America Foundation. His two most recent books, Blind Into Baghdad (2006) and Postcards From Tomorrow Square (2009), are based on his writings for The Atlantic. His latest book, China Airborne, was published in early May. He is married to Deborah Fallows, author of the recent book Dreaming in Chinese. They have two married sons.

Fallows welcomes and frequently quotes from reader mail sent via the "Email" button below. Unless you specify otherwise, we consider any incoming mail available for possible quotation -- but not with the sender's real name unless you explicitly state that it may be used. If you are wondering why Fallows does not use a "Comments" field below his posts, please see previous explanations here and here.
« Previous Fallows | Next Fallows » Email Email Print Print

The Tom Wales Case Is Still Open

By James Fallows

Sep 29 2011, 1:57 PM ET

wales1.jpgOver the years I've mentioned several times the heartbreaking murder case of Tom Wales. That's him at right. He was a career federal prosecutor in Seattle, who at age 49 was shot dead in his home, by a rifleman through a window, as he worked at his computer at night. I knew him slightly; his brother-in-law is one of my closest friends but doesn't know I'm posting this.

Tom Wales was killed on October 11, 2001 -- nearly ten years ago. If the national media had not been all-consumed with the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath, this would have been a much bigger national story. From the start police assumed that he was shot because of one of the cases he was pursuing. He is thought to be the first federal prosecutor ever killed in the line of duty. For previous items on the case, see here, here, and here. Jeffrey Toobin did a very good article about Wales, the killing, and the still-inconclusive investigation in the New Yorker. 

Yesterday in Seattle, Attorney General Eric Holder declared that he considered the case still open and requested public help in developing new leads. There is a $1,000,000 reward for information that helps the FBI. Good for Holder, the Justice Department, and the FBI, in sticking up for one of their own. More from the FBI and from the Thomas C. Wales Foundation.

This week Tom Wales's children, Amy and Tom, released an online appeal for information and help. Please watch.


Thanks to BW in Washington state.


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

'Snow White and the Huntsman': The Visuals Dazzle, the Performances Don't 'Snow White': Visuals Dazzle, Actors Don't
Sex Selection in America: Why It Persists and How We Can Change It Sex-Selective Abortion Persists in America
This Photo Uses Every Single Instagram Filter How to Go From Kinkade to Rothko in 18 Easy Steps
Aretha Franklin's Platinum Year Aretha Franklin's Platinum Year
The Pathbreaking Flight of SpaceX's Dragon Capsule, by the Numbers SpaceX Dragon's Pathbreaking Flight, by the Numbers

Correspondents

View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

James Fallows
from the Magazine

Obama, Explained

As Barack Obama contends for a second term in office, two conflicting narratives of his presidency…

Barack Obama

Facing huge risks and holding inconclusive intel, the president makes a gutsy call to take out bin…

Hacked!

As email, documents, and almost every aspect of our professional and personal lives moves onto the…