Here are some links to selected journalism I’ve done in the past:
TANGO
A piece in Tango about my ‘May-September’ marriage which inspired my book, Timeless. Read the piece
THE NEW YORKER
Summaries of some of my articles in the New Yorker. The full articles can be accessed by subscribing to the New Yorker digital archives and typing my name into the search bar.
Annals of Childhood
Miracle Kid
May 17, 1999
ANNALS OF CHILDHOOD about the writer’s nephew, Max, born with Fraser syndrome, a condition which left him with one eye, five stubby fingers and toes, and other major birth defects… Tells about the scene at Cedars-Sinai as the baby was born, and the mother’s struggle to have the child cared for properly… My sister Penelope is six years younger than I, and our relationship has not always been a peaceful one… Penelope avoided despair by focussing completely on Max’s treatment… Describes the various surgeries the child underwent… As Max grew to be a year old, it became clear he was not 
retarded… Tells how, because of a tracheostomy tube, he was unable to speak, so Penelope mastered sign language… Throughout the second year of his life, Max had surgical procedures every few weeks. Eventually, his medical bills totalled more than half a million dollars, almost all of which was paid by health insurance… In a way, Max’s surgeries became a reassuring routine… Tells about an incident involving Max making a 911 call, summoning a quintet of police officers… He was enrolled in the Tripod educational program at Burbank… Tells about his experience in first grade… Describes the positive changes his childhood has wrought in Penelope… Likewise, the doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are now more aware of the possibilities of saving the eyesight of Fraser syndrome victims, thanks to their experience with Max’s fetal eye structure… Writer tells about going to watch Max’s brother Luke practice hockey…
Annals of Law Enforcement
Don’t Shoot
July 22, 1996
ANNALS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT about Clint Van Zandt. Clint Van Zandt is a former chief hostage negotiator and member of the F.B.I.’s Behavioral Science Unit. He has worked on numerous cases, including the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge, the Waco Branch Davidian compound, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Unabomber…
The Talk of the Town
Local Mail Bomber, Still at Large
April 15, 1996
Talk story about a local mail bomber: the “zip-gun bomber.” Postal Inspector Gregory Rhatigan, who tracks bombs sent through the U.S. mail, learned Thursday morning that F.B.I, agents in Montana had discovered a pipe bomb, all wrapped and ready to go, in the cabin of the suspected Unabomber. As…
Annals of Crime
Return of the Fugitive
June 13, 1994
ANNALS OF CRIME about antiwar radical Katharine Ann Power, who spent from age 21 to age 44 evading the FBI under a variety of pseudonyms, mainly that of Alice Metzinger. Under the Metzinger identity she became a successful restaurateur in Oregon. Tells about a mock trial in which she played…
Annals of Law
The War for Baby Clausen
March 22, 1993
ANNALS OF LAW about the adoption battle over the child of Dan & Cara Schmidt, who sought the return of their daughter after giving her up for adoption to Robby & Jan DeBoer…
Annals of Surveillance
To Catch a Judge: How the F.B.I. Tracked Sol Wachtler
December 21, 1992
ANNALS OF SURVEILLANCE about the capture of Judge Sol Wachtler. Tells about his vicious harassment of former girlfriend Joy Silverman, including threats against her child. Writer reconstructed the story from a series of interviews with members of federal law enforcement. “The scheme is stunningly elaborate,” Garey Chin, the F.B.I. case…
NEW YORK MAGAZINE
Interview in New York magazine with Israel’s late controversial leader, Ariel Sharon. Accessible by subscribing to New York’s digital archives.
The Warrior’s Peace
January 4, 1999
Ariel Sharon has had many lives: legendary Israeli general, bloodstained pariah, prodigious builder of settlements, sheep farmer. Now, as Israel’s foreign minister, he’s navigating Israel — carefully — toward peace. The question is, how much has he really changed? Read more
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
This is a personal story I wrote about Diana Oughton, her family, and the Weatherman group. Read the story
THE DAILY BEAST
I did a series of exclusive stories for The Daily Beast on the Madoff scandal. I appeared as a special corresondent to CBS News, talking about the details and discoveries of the scandal. Here are links to two of the stories. If these links don’t work you can find all my Daily Beast articles by googling ‘the daily beast lucinda franks.’ Read the articles here and here. Find more of my Daily Beast articles here.
TALK MAGAZINE, LA TIMES, THIRTEEN, WASHINGTON POST
Perhaps my most controversial article was my interview with Hillary Clinton for Tina Brown’s Talk magazine about Monica Lewinsky. The first lady had never talked of the scandal and her husband’s role in it before. The piece garnered many pro and con responses from the media about both Hillary and me, and even warranted an angry editorial in the New York Times. The Hillary article seems not to be on the internet, but you can download a scanned .pdf copy at this link. In addition, here are links to three of the pieces written about the interview. LA Times | Thirteen | Washington Post
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL.
The first of the five part UPI article about the death of Diana Oughton, a member of the violent Weatherman group, is available here. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Thomas Powers and me.