Ron Suskind is a native of Kingston, NY. He earned a bachelor's degree in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Mr. Suskind began his journalism career in 1983 as a news assistant and interim reporter at the New York Times, where he worked for the Times' metro section and covered national business.

In 1985 he went to the St. Petersburg (FL) Times as a city/state staff writer covering crime and general interest stories. He moved to Boston in 1987 and became senior editor of Boston Business magazine; the following year he was named its editor.