Walter Anderson

Mr. Anderson has been chairman and CEO of Parade Publications since March 2000. Until March 2000, he was editor of PARADE magazine for more than 20 years.
During his tenure as editor, Anderson, 59, helped increase the magazine’s circulation from 21.6 million in 129 Sunday newspapers in June of 1980 to more than 37 million in 343 papers at the turn of the millennium.
Prior to joining PARADE, Anderson held several management positions with Gannett Newspapers in Westchester County, New York.

Anderson’s latest book, “Meant To Be: The True Story of a Son Who Discovers He Is His Mother’s Deepest Secret,” has been described as a poignant memoir of growing up poor, battered, and tormented by a man who, Anderson would learn, was not his real father.

Anderson is also the author of “The Confidence Course,” based on a class he taught at The New School University in New York City.

A high school dropout, Anderson is a national spokesman for GED, the program which enables high school dropouts to gain equivalency diplomas. He is also a director of the National Dropout Prevention Fund. A Vietnam veteran, Anderson served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961 to 1966, rising to the rank of sergeant. Today, he is a member of the board of advisors of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Anderson was valedictorian of his class at Mercy College in Westchester, where he majored in psychology.