Meredith May

Meredith May, a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter, writes memoirs and children's books. She's also a fifth-generation beekeeper and volunteer scuba diver for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Her 2021 memoir, LOVING EDIE: How A Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me To Be Brave, tells the story of Meredith's golden retriever puppy Edith who has extreme anxiety. Meredith and her wife Jenn learn how to love their sensitive dog because of, not in spite of, her disability. Meredith's 2019 memoir, THE HONEY BUS, reveals the life lessons she learned in her grandfather’s Big Sur bee yard that rescued her from a difficult childhood. The book was published in seventeen countries, translated into eleven languages, and will be published by Cameron Kids as a children's picture book titled MY HIVE in Spring 2024. Her 2017 book: I, WHO DID NOT DIE, tells the true story of an Iranian child soldier who risked his life to save an enemy during the Iran-Iraq War – an astonishing act of bravery and kindness that changed the course of both their lives. During her sixteen-year career at the San Francisco Chronicle, Meredith's reporting garnered the PEN USA Literary Award for Journalism, the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, and first place feature writing awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press. Her series about an Iraqi boy wounded during the second Gulf War was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize. Meredith is a former professor of journalism and podcasting at Mills College in Oakland, CA. She lives in Carmel Valley, where she cares for several beehives. More info: meredithamay.net