Michael Brick

Christopher Michael Brick (June 21, 1974 – February 8, 2016) was an American journalist and songwriter. He worked as a freelance writer and as a writer for The New York Times. Brick was working for the Houston Chronicle at the time of his death from cancer.

Born in Cheverly, Maryland, Brick moved to Dallas as a teenager. He graduated from R. L. Turner High School in Carrollton and the University of Texas at Austin.^[1] Brick worked as a research assistant for Kurt Eichenwald on the book The Informant. "Pretty soon, not only was he doing everything exceptionally, but I began to recognize his writing skills, which I hadn't been paying attention to. By the time he was finished working with me, it became clear to me that on a lot of levels he was better than me," Eichenwald said.^[2]

Brick was on the staff of The New York Times from 2001 to 2008. He covered events including the Enron scandal and Hurricane Katrina with The New York Times.^[1] He became a freelance writer in 2008.^[3] In 2013 and 2014, he was an adviser for The Daily Texan, the student newspaper for which he had written when he attended UT Austin.^[4] He joined the Houston Chronicle in 2014, and published a column known as The Sporting Life.^[1]

Brick's 2012 book, Saving the School: The True Story of a Principal, a Teacher, a Coach, a Bunch of Kids, and a Year in the Crosshairs of Education Reform, told the story of the struggling Reagan High School in Austin, Texas.^[1] Brick followed several teachers, a number of students, and the principal of the school as he was writing the book.^[5] Patrick Welsh of The Washington Post said that the book "is a compelling, enlightening account of a school community rising to save itself."^[6]

Brick wrote music and played guitar and mandolin. In college, he formed a band known as Bottle of Smoke, and later in Brooklyn, he started another band in Brooklyn called The Music Grinders.^[2] He died of colon cancer in 2016.^[7] He was survived by his wife and three children.^[2]