John King

John King created The San Francisco Chronicle's urban design writer post in 2001. Before that, he was a columnist for the paper in Contra Costa County. In his decade at The Chronicle, he has also covered San Francisco City Hall and neighborhood issues.

Mr. King has a master's degree in journalism from Indiana University, where his thesis topic was Herb Caen's daily column, and an undergraduate history degree from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to The Chronicle, he has worked at The Boston Globe, and written for such publications as Architectural Record, Metropolis and Zoetrope: All-Story.

Mr. King also wrote the introduction to "Marcel Sedletzky: Architect and Teacher (Wild Coast Press, 2002) and contributed an essay on the cultural impact of escalators for an exhibit catalog being prepared by the National Building Museum. In 2002, the California Council of the American Institute of Architects presented him with a "Special Commendation" for his "delicate blend of vision and pragmatism" in writing about urban design. In both 2002 and 2003, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.