A Richmond, Virginia native with a master’s degree in journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University, Linwood Norman served as the city’s director of communications during Wilder’a “Strong Mayor”; administration. As Mayor Wilder’s press secretary, Norman obtained an insider’s view on what compelled Wilder to take actions that were deemed courageous by some and abominable by others.

Linwood Norman’s career has spanned the public, corporate and nonprofit sectors and includes posts as senior communications advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; communications manager for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield; and communications director for ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer. Earlier in his career, Norman was a reporter for the Newport News Daily Press; the Petersburg Progress-Index, where he received a Virginia Press Association First-Place Award for Investigative Journalism, and a contributing writer for Richmond Magazine and Virginia Town & City Magazine.

Now retired, Norman divides his time between Washington, D.C. and Fort Lauderdale, Florida as he ponders the topic of his next book.