Laura Hillenbrand

Laura Hillenbrand (born May 15, 1967) is an American author renowned for her bestselling nonfiction books Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001) and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010), both of which chronicled extraordinary true stories of perseverance and were adapted into Academy Award-nominated films. Afflicted with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) since 1987, a debilitating condition that for many years largely confined her to her home in Oregon , Hillenbrand has conducted extensive research and crafted her narratives primarily from bed, overcoming severe physical limitations—though she has reported improvements since 2016 allowing greater mobility—to produce works that have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Born in Fairfax, Virginia , as the youngest of four children to Bernard Hillenbrand, a World War II veteran, and his wife, she grew up in a family environment that valued history and storytelling . Hillenbrand attended Kenyon College in Ohio , where she initially pursued studies in literature and history , but her academic career was interrupted in 1987 by the sudden onset of CFS following a routine car ride, which triggered intense symptoms including vertigo, exhaustion, muscle pain, cognitive difficulties, and low blood pressure. Diagnosed that year by specialists at Johns Hopkins University, the illness forced her to drop out of college and led to years of isolation, misdiagnoses, and gradual adaptation to writing as a sedentary profession. She is married to Borden Flanagan.

Hillenbrand's writing career began in the early 1990s with freelance articles on horse racing for publications such as Equus magazine, evolving into contributions to prestigious outlets like The New Yorker , Vanity Fair , and The New York Times . Her breakthrough came with Seabiscuit , a vivid account of the Depression-era racehorse and its jockey that became a New York Times bestseller, earned the Book Sense Nonfiction Book of the Year award, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award , and inspired a 2003 film directed by Gary Ross , nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture. This was followed by Unbroken , which detailed the life of Olympian and WWII POW Louis Zamperini , topping bestseller lists, winning the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and serving as the basis for a 2014 Universal Pictures film directed by Angelina Jolie , for which Hillenbrand consulted. In 2003, her personal essay "A Sudden Illness" about living with CFS, published in The New Yorker , won the 2004 National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism, highlighting her ability to transform adversity into compelling narrative.

Despite her health challenges, Hillenbrand co-founded Operation International Children with actor Gary Sinise to provide school supplies and support to children in war zones through American troops. Her meticulous research process, often involving thousands of hours reviewing archives and conducting interviews by phone or email , has established her as a master of historical nonfiction , with both major works achieving enduring cultural impact through their adaptations and inspiring adaptations for young adult readers.

Laura Hillenbrand was born on May 15, 1967, in Fairfax, Virginia , the youngest of four children to Elizabeth Marie Dwyer, a psychologist and former journalist for the Washington Post , and Bernard Francis Hillenbrand, a World War II veteran who worked as a lobbyist and executive director for the National Association of Counties before becoming a Methodist minister. The family resided in Bethesda, Maryland , in a white Colonial house on Moorland Lane, where Hillenbrand grew up surrounded by pets including two collies and a pet chicken.