Richard C. Cook

Richard C. Cook is an author, consultant, and publisher who works out of Maryland and Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. His interests are public policy, economic and monetary reform, meditation and spirituality, space exploration, and sustainable farming. He attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, the alma mater of Thomas Jefferson, where he graduated with honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Cook is a former U.S. federal government analyst who in 1986 became one of the foremost whistleblowers of modern times. He was instrumental in exposing multiple layers of cover-up in the wake of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. As a witness to the incident and a participant in the subsequent investigations, he received the Cavallo Foundation Award for Moral Courage in Business and Government for his testimony. In 2007, his memoirs of the tragedy were published in a book entitled: Challenger Revealed: An Insider’s Account of How the Reagan Administration Caused the Greatest Tragedy of the Space Age. It has been called by one reviewer, “The most important space flight book in 20 years.”

As a policy analyst for the U.S. government from 1970 until 2007, his career included service with the U.S. Civil Service Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Carter White House, NASA, and the U.S. Treasury Department. He also taught history at the Field School in Washington, D.C., and owned and operated an organic farm for 10 years while commuting to work from rural Virginia.

Cook’s most recent book is We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform, released in December 2008. He is also author of a book about a guru from India: In the Footsteps of the Yogi: The 1999 U.S. Tour of Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj.

Cook’s articles on public policy issues appear widely on the internet and in print venues. He was an adviser to Congressman Dennis Kucinich during his 2004 and 2008 presidential runs and a contributor to the American Monetary Act drafted and currently being promoted by the American Monetary Association. In a June 2007 article entitled “It’s Official: The Crash of the U.S. Economy Has Begun,” he accurately predicted the current crisis. On February 27, 2009, he will be presenting his views on solutions to the problem in a paper entitled “Dividend Economics and the Basic Income Guarantee: A ‘Bailout’ for the People”