A journalism graduate of George Washington University, Mark Dawidziak has worked as a theater, film and television critic since 1979. He started his journalism career in the Washington, D.C., bureaus of Knight-Ridder Newspapers and the Associated Press. He has been the television critic for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1999. A member of the Television Critics Association’s board of directors for five years, he has won five Cleveland Press Club awards for entertainment writing, as well as a Society of Professional Journalists award for coverage of minority issues.
Dawidziak has also written two non-fiction books about beloved TV characters, co-authored the first full-length biography of “hobo author” Jim Tully, and edited collections of horror writing. He met his wife, actress Sara Showman, through the stage. In 2002, they founded the Largely Literary Theater Company, a touring troupe dedicated to promoting literacy, literature and live theater. He currently is teaching part-time as an adjunct professor at Kent State University, in addition to writing for The Plain Dealer.