Prince Harry's ghost writer allegedly earned $1 million for 'controversial memoir', who is he?

Prince Harry’s memoir hit shelves worldwide this week, becoming the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time in the UK. But who is the man the Duke trusted with penning his deepest thoughts?

Who is JR Moehringer?

Mail Online reports that John Joseph Moehringer grew up in the little town of Manhasset, a commuter town in Long Island, the backdrop of The Great Gatsby. His mother raised him. His father, a DJ on FM radio, abandoned the family.

Moehringer apparently lived in ‘cramped conditions’ with his mother and his grandparents until he and his mother moved to Arizona just before he started secondary school.

Moehringer graduated from Yale University with a BA in 1986 and then worked for several different newspapers. His ‘big break’ happened in 1997 with an article about the boxer Bob 'Bombardier' Satterfield, who was sleeping on benches in L.A. The article earned him a spot among the Pulitzer prize finalist. The article, Resurrecting The Champ, was turned into a movie starring Samuel L. Jackson.

His article, Crossing Over, which he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, earned him his Pulitzer prize in 2000.

Moehringer is thought to be living in Berkley, California, approximately 300 miles from Prince Harry, Mail Online reports.

An obvious choice

Prince Harry and Moehringer, known under his pen name JR Moehringer, were reportedly introduced by George Clooney. How Clooney met the Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist is not disclosed. Still, the Oscar-winning actor decided to turn Moehringer’s own bestselling autobiography, The Tender Bar, into a film starring Ben Affleck in 2021.

The 58-year-old is no novice when it comes to ghostwriting either. He penned André Agassi’s memoir, Open, and helped a Nike cofounder write his autobiography, Shoe Dog.

According to The Guardian, he is renowned for his immersive approach and his captivation with the father-son relationship.

Speaking of Moehringer’s writing abilities after having read The Tender Bar, Agassi told The New York Times:

It was the first autobiography I’d read that didn’t feel like a global press conference.

Patrick Janson-Smith, who published Moehringer’s novel, Sutton, called his memoir ‘extraordinary’ and complimented his ‘natural born’ talent.

BBC News reports that according to Page Six,Moehringer received $1 million to ghostwrite what is being called perhaps the ‘most controversial memoir of the year’.

Sources used:

- BBC News: Who is Harry's celebrated ghostwriter, JR Moehringer?

- The Guardian: In his own write: Prince Harry’s ghostwriter is so famous that George Clooney made a film of his life

- Mail Online: Who is Prince Harry's ghostwriter? JR Moehringer behind 'Spare' is award-winning journalist whose own memoir was turned into 2021 Ben Affleck film that was directed by George Clooney