Hailed "the quintessential political novelist of his time" by Fortune magazine and "one of the funniest writers in the English language" by Tom Wolfe, Christopher Buckley is a political satirist, columnist and author, most recently of Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir about the passing of his father, William F. Buckley, and mother, Patricia Taylor Buckley.

He has written thirteen books, including Thank You For Smoking, a satire about the tobacco industry which was made into a major motion picture, Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, and Little Green Men. He served as chief speechwriter for George H.W. Bush when he was vice president, and has been the editor of Forbes FYI since 1989.

Buckley briefly wrote the back page column for National Review, the conservative magazine founded by his father, until he surprisingly endorsed President Barack Obama in 2008 in an article for The Daily Beast entitled, "Sorry Dad, I'm Voting for Obama."

He continues to write his award-winning column for The Daily Beast, and has written for most national newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TIME, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and others.

In 2002, Buckley received the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence.

NOTE: Bio is as it appeared in The Forum program on October 2, 2010.