Eric O'Keefe


Eric O'Keefe is an American author, editor, and journalist based in Texas. His most recent book is the Palm Beach polo murder mystery The Perfect 10. He authored The Cup and also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie version of The Cup. O'Keefe has served as the editor-in-chief of The Land Report since its founding in 2007.

Author

The Perfect 10 is O'Keefe's most recent book and his first work of fiction. A murder mystery set in Palm Beach, it centers on the investigation into the homicide of Juancito Harrington, a top-ranked Argentine polo player. O'Keefe announced the book via a Kickstarter campaign, which was successfully funded on its first day, March 11, 2016.
O'Keefe's The Cup has been made into a feature film The Cup based on a script by O'Keefe and Australian director Simon Wincer. Filmed in 2010 and released in 2011, the movie was directed by Wincer. with Stephen Curry cast as Damien Oliver, Daniel MacPherson as Jason Oliver, Brendon Gleeson as Dermot Weld and Tom Burlinson as Dave Phillips. Wincer, Jan Bladier, and David Lee produced the film. Executive Producers include Lance Hool of Silver Lion Films and Kirk D'Amico of Myriad Pictures, Greg Sitch, Joel Pearlman, Peter de Rauch, and James M. Vernon.
O'Keefe's The Cup is the story of Damien Oliver's dramatic victory on Media Puzzle in the world's richest and most prestigious two-mile handicap, the Melbourne Cup. The week before the race, Damien's only brother, Jason, died following a track accident in Perth while riding an unraced horse at Ascot Racecourse. The tragedy bore a haunting similarity to the death of their father, Ray Oliver, who died in 1975 after a racing fall in the Boulder Cup in Kalgoorlie. Damien's decision to honor his brother by returning and competing in Australia's greatest race culminated in Media Puzzle's emotion-charged victory, which has been rated one of the memorable moments in Australian sports history. O'Keefe traveled to Australia, Dubai, and Ireland to research The Cup, which was published in Australia by Slattery Media and launched in the Committee Room at Flemington Racecourse on August 4, 2009.
O'Keefe has written numerous guidebooks, including the Texas Monthly Guidebook to West Texas and the Big Bend, the Texas Monthly Guidebook to El Paso, and the Lone Star Guide to Big Bend and West Texas. He was a contributing author to the Texas Monthly Guidebook to Texas and the Lone Star Guide to Texas.
He authored The Art of Chuck DeHaan with photography by Gustav Schmiege.

Editor

In 2006, O'Keefe co-founded The Land Report with Eddie Lee Rider Jr. Known as the Magazine of the American Landowner, the quarterly magazine and website focus on topics of interest to landowners and those who invest in land. The magazine is best known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, the Land Report 100. In his capacity as editor, O'Keefe is regularly called upon to comment on topics pertaining to land and landowners and has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, and The New York Times.
O'Keefe, who is a registered broker with the Texas Real Estate Commission, serves as the magazine's editor and Rider its publisher. Prior to The Land Report, O'Keefe was lead editor at Cowboys & Indians and Chile Pepper.

Journalist

Since 1996, O'Keefe has freelanced for The New York Times on a wide variety of subjects, including Carl Icahn, the NFL, and Willie Nelson. In 1997, O'Keefe was one of the first journalists to report on the shooting death of 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez Jr. by Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, a U.S. Marine on a drug interdiction training mission near Redford, Texas. The high school student was the first U.S. civilian killed by active duty military personnel since the Kent State shootings in 1970. O'Keefe also reported for The Times on the 1998 settlement by the Department of the Navy and the Justice Department with the Hernandez family. The shooting subsequently inspired The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, a movie directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones.
In his editorial capacities at The Land Report, O'Keefe has interviewed landowners such as Clint Eastwood, Tom Brokaw, Nolan Ryan, T. Boone Pickens, and Ted Turner.
Huffington Post, Western Horseman, Cigar Aficionado, and D Magazine are some of the other media to feature O'Keefe's writings, including profiles and interviews of actors, entertainers, authors, business leaders, and political figures such as Hank Aaron, Norman Brinker, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Julia Child, Russell Crowe, Billy Crystal, Brian Dennehy, Robert Duvall, Dean Fearing, Kinky Friedman, Memo Gracida, Tommy Lee Jones, Jay Leno, Reba McEntire, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Bernadette Peters, Ann Richards, Tom Selleck, and Sam Shepard.