John Ortved is a 28-year-old writer and former editorial associate at Vanity Fair who lives between New York and Toronto, where he was born and raised. Growing up, he was no good at hockey, and was forced to find other ways to impress girls, like writing, working out, and smoking weed – none of which worked. At McGill University, where he earned his BA in English Literature (with a little economics), he wrote a weekly column, The Art Dummy, for The McGill Daily, which 6 out of 10 students considered “pretty awesome.”

After University, Ortved began editorial work at Vanity Fair magazine, first as an intern, then an editorial assistant and associate. His addiction to pop culture made VF an ideal place to cut his teeth in the world of magazines.

He worked for Vanity Fair's editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter on the book What We’ve Lost, a critique of the Bush administration, and later with deputy editors Doug Stumpf, Bruce Handy and their writers. In additon, he contributed articles on television, film, fashion and comedy to The National Post, Now Magazine, The New York Observer, Interview and V.

In 2006, John began work on an oral history of The Simpsons, which was published in VF’s August 2007 issue. That fall, he signed with literary agency Kuhn Projects, endeavoring to expand the article to a book-length investigation of The Simpsons. The book was purchased by Farrar Straus & Giroux in the United States, Ebury in the United Kingdom, and Greystone Books in Canada.

When not writing, John Ortved can be found in Georgian Bay, the Lower East Side’s Max Fish, or the beginner’s boxing class at his local gym. He maintains the website artisdumb.org, the Internet’s only website devoted to news about bears.

Photo by Gasper Tringale, courtesy of Vanity Fair.