Ian Frazier

Ian "Sandy" Frazier
Frazier in 2010
Born
Ian Frazier

1951 (age 74–75)
EducationHarvard University
OccupationsNon-fiction writer, humorist
SpouseJacqueline Carey
Writing career
Period1974–present
Notable worksGreat Plains (1989)
Coyote v. Acme (1990)
Travels in Siberia (2010)

Ian Frazier (born 1951 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American writer and humorist. His works include Great Plains and Coyote v. Acme, the latter of which served as the basis for the film Coyote vs. Acme (2026).

Biography

Frazier grew up in Hudson, Ohio. His father, David Frazier, was a chemist, who worked for Sohio. His mother, Peggy, was a teacher, as well as an amateur actor and director, who performed in and directed plays in local Ohio theaters. He graduated from Western Reserve Academy in 1969 and from Harvard University in 1973.

Writing career

Frazier wrote the 1989 non-fiction history Great Plains and 2010's non-fiction travelogue Travels in Siberia. He works as a writer and humorist for The New Yorker.

The New York Times critic James Gorman described Frazier's 1996 humor collection Coyote v. Acme as the occasion for "irrepressible laughter in the reader". In the title piece, Wile E. Coyote is suing Acme Corporation, the manufacturer of products such as explosives and rocket-propelled devices purchased by the coyote to aid in hunting the Road Runner; these products always backfire disastrously. The story served as the basis for the film Coyote vs. Acme, which was shelved in 2023 by Warner Bros. Discovery. In March 2025, American independent film distributor Ketchup Entertainment acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the film; it released theatrically on August 28, 2026.

Gorman rates Frazier's first collection, 1986's Dating Your Mom, as "one of the best collections of humor ever published".

Personal life

His wife Jacqueline Carey and their daughter Cora are also writers.

Awards

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Humorist Ian Frazier, who grew up in Hudson, Ohio, wins another Thurber award Archived November 11, 2018, at the Wayback Machine". October 6, 2009. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved via Cleveland.com, November 10, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ian Frazier." Contemporary Authors Online. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2017. Retrieved via Biography In Context database, November 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ Lambert, Craig (September/October 2008). "Seriously Funny: Ian Frazier combines an historian's discipline with an original comic mind Archived July 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine". Harvard Magazine. harvardmagazine.com. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  4. ↑ Ian Frazier, Family. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994. p. 256.
  5. ↑ Ian Frazier, Family. p. 26.
  6. ↑ "Contributors: Ian Frazier". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
  7. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 28, 2018). "Warner Bros' Wile E. Coyote Movie Finds Its Scribes In The Silberman Brothers". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  8. ↑ Bergson, Samantha; Perella, Vincent (March 10, 2024). "'Coyote vs. Acme' Writer Samy Burch Says Film May Still Be Released: Conversations Are 'Ongoing,' but We'd Be 'Heartbroken' If It's Shelved". Indiewire. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  9. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (March 31, 2025). "Warner Bros Completes Worldwide Sale Of 'Coyote Vs Acme'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 31, 2025. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  10. ↑ James Gorman, "Beep-Beep!", The New York Times, June 23, 1996.
  11. ↑ Kois, Dan (August 20, 2024). "Fifty Years of Paying Attention". Slate. Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  12. ↑ Hartig, Jean (2010). "Thurber House." Poets & Writers Magazine. Vol. 38, no. 2. p. 133 f. Retrieved via Literature Resource Center database, November 10, 2018.