Ronald B. Scott

Ronald Bruce Scott (October 4, 1945 – February 20, 2020) was an American author, journalist, media advisor and former staff writer for Time Magazine, and also a member of a small editorial team that founded People Magazine in 1974. He was best known for Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics, his 2011 independent biography of then presidential candidate Mitt Romney, written from the point of view of a critical but fellow member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). In 2005, Scott became the first commentator to highlight how Romney changed his positions on both abortion and same-sex marriage during his bid for presidential election.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Scott worked briefly for United Press International in 1970 before accepting a position with Time, Inc. in New York, where he reported for its magazines Time, Sports Illustrated and Life Magazine, and People.

His debut novel Closing Circles: Trapped in the Everlasting Mormon Moment was published in 2012, followed by his second novel, The Mending, in February 2019.

Scott died on February 20, 2020, after a short battle with cancer. He lived in Westport, Connecticut and had been working on a third novel, part of a collection of loosely connected short stories. He was the father of five children, grandfather of three, and was married to Diana Lynn Watt Scott for more than 43 years.