Eleanor Baumgartner biography
Eleanor Baumgartner spent 2007 to 2009 living and working in Afghanistan, first as a freelance journalist in Kabul and later as an embedded advisor to an Afghan Government counternarcotics team in Helmand. During her 14 months in Helmand, she helped lead efforts to reduce poppy cultivation in the province, home to 60% of the world’s illicit opium production.
Eleanor graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in natural sciences in 1998 and worked as a management consultant before changing careers to journalism. From 2005 to 2007, while a staff reporter for the Mail on Sunday newspaper, she worked on a wide range of stories, from the world’s first face transplant to foreign assignments in Yemen and India investigating murder cases.
Eleanor has travelled to more than 40 countries and enjoys competing in ultramarathons. In 2006 she was the only woman to finish the Trans 333, a grueling 208 mile race through the Niger desert.
Eleanor now lives in the United States with her husband Michael, a Washington State Senator, and their baby son Conrad.
How I Found the Agency
Andrew Lownie came highly recommended by an author friend who had worked with him successfully on several non-fiction books. On contacting Andrew, I was immediately impressed by his responsiveness and enthusiasm. His advice has been excellent and very constructive.
