Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Parks i New Jersey engari i tipu ake ia i Ridgefield, Connecticut, i reira ia i haere ki te Kura Tuarua o Ridgefield. I timata ia ki te tuhi ngaio mo tana niupepa o te taone nui, The Ridgefield Press, i te 14 o ona tau, e pa ana ki nga hakinakina o te kura tuarua. I haere ia ki te Whare Wananga o Dartmouth, i whakatu i tana ake niupepa, Ko te Sports Weekly (kua ngaro inaianei) me te waiata me te Dodecaphonics, he roopu a cappella. I a ia e akonga ana, i mahi ia hei kaikawe korero mo The New York Times me te kaiwhakaako mo The Boston Globe. Whai muri i tana tohu Phi Beta Kappa mai i Dartmouth i te tau 1996, i whakangungu ia i te The Washington Post, ana i te mutunga ka utua ia e te niupepa, i tukuna ia ki tetahi tari i Manassas, Virginia. I te tau 1998, ka neke ia ki The Star-Ledger ka tiimata tana mahi hei kaituhi mahi hakinakina, a, i muri mai, he kaituhi korero. I te tau 2007, ko Crossroads, ko tana raupapa e wha nga waahanga mo te
I riro i nga tutu o Newark i te tau 1967 te utu nui a te New Jersey Press Association mo te purongo umanga. I tēnei wā e noho ana ia ki Virginia me tana wahine me āna tamariki iti e rua.