Carroll, Colleen 1974-

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CARROLL, Colleen 1974-

PERSONAL: Born September 4, 1974, in Framingham, MA; daughter of Thomas and Mary Carroll. Education: Marquette University, B.A., 1996; Saint Louis University, post-graduate work in philosophy. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Loyola Press, 3441 North Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60657. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Freelance writer and public speaker, 1992—; Marquette Journal magazine, Milwaukee, WI, editor-in-chief, columnist, and staff writer, 1992-95; Washington Magazine, editorial intern, 1995; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, freelance writer, 1995-96; Memphis Commercial Appeal, news reporter, 1996-97; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, editorial writer and news reporter, 1997-2002; speechwriter to President George W. Bush, 2003. Media commentator for Public Broadcast System, CBS Radio, EWTN, Harvest Television Network, American Family Radio, Breakpoint Radio, Moody Broadcasting, and USA Radio Network.

MEMBER: Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Sigma Nu, Sigma Tau Delta.

AWARDS, HONORS: Honor scholarship and awards for academic achievement, leadership in student media, and alumni leadership, Marquette University, 1992-96; Society of Professional Journalists award, 1995, for writing and editing Marquette Journal; Phillips Foundation fellowship, 2000; Saint Louis University research assistantship for doctoral studies in philosophy, 2002; Columbia University fellowship, 2000.

WRITINGS:

The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy, Loyola Press (Chicago, IL), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Weekly Standard, National Catholic Reporter, Catholic Digest, Our Sunday Visitor, and Beliefnet.com.

SIDELIGHTS: Colleen Carroll has given a voice to the "new faithful," a name she uses to describe Generation-X adults who are attracted to classic Christianity and the traditional values many in the generation before theirs had rejected. In 2000 Carroll received a $50,000 fellowship from the Phillips Foundation to travel the United States and research and write on this movement. In 2002 she published her results in her first book, The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy.

Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1974 and raised a Catholic, Carroll studied at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before beginning a journalism career. Troubled by the disparity that she found between religious reporting about her peers and the reality of their spiritual searches and commitments, she set out to research the trend toward orthodoxy that she had witnessed among young adults for years. She found that many of her Generation-X contemporaries had a deep attraction to God and to the church, she explained in an interview for the National Catholic Register.

In her book Carroll examines the lives of her peers: twenty-and thirty-somethings attracted to a more demanding practice of the Christian faith than were many of their parents. Her subjects are lawyers, doctors, academics, actors, and other adults who experienced life-changing conversions that fueled their desire to turn away from materialism and preach the gospel with their lives. Carroll told CA: "these new faithful are often attracted to liturgical worship, authoritative teaching, authentic community, and faith-based service to others. Their religious commitments have the potential to reshape their churches and transform American culture."

By focusing on Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and evangelical Protestant churches Carroll explores this phenomenon and predicts a resurgence of orthodox theology and traditional morality. "This is a book that generously and comprehensively examines a group that is often misunderstood and caricatured," a reviewer wrote in Publishers Weekly.