Former Beach & Bay Press reporter now a best-selling author

Cathleen Scott’s career trajectory from being a 38-year-old reporter for the Beach & Bay Press to becoming a best-selling true-crime author is an extraordinary tale.
Since her start in community journalism, Scott’s list of accomplishments now boasts a stint as a crime beat reporter for the daily Las Vegas Sun newspaper, being a journalism and advanced magazine instructor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and freelancing for The New York Times and Reuters News Service.
All of which set the stage for her latest career endeavor as a non-fiction author. Scott’s list of high-profile books now includes “The Killing of Tupac Shakur,” “The Murder of Biggie Smalls,” “Unconditional Honor: Wounded Warriors and Their Dogs” and “Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned.”
“I was a secretary for Pacific Bell who always wanted to write and report and I started out covering Belmont Park and that redevelopment,” recalled Scott, who took a buyout from Pac Bell to go back to school for a business degree before freelancing for Beach & Bay Press. “I was their first reporter. My first crime story for BBP was about a drug bust on Mission Boulevard. I’ve been hooked on crime ever since.”
Fast forward to Scott’s full-time job as a police beat reporter in the desert for the Las Vegas Sun a few years later, which ultimately led to her becoming the Las Vegas correspondent for The New York Times for 11 years. She’s also penned true-crime titles “The Murder of Biggie Smalls” and “The Killing of Tupac Shakur.” Both were bestsellers in the United States and Great Britain.
“I’m a non-fiction author writing biographies about dead people and murder and I’ve had 13 books,” said Scott adding one of those books, “Murder of a Mafia Daughter: The Life and Tragic Death of Susan Berman,” was about the daughter of mobster David Berman, who wrote about her father’s role in organized crime before she was found murdered in her home in 2000.
“I wrote about the killing of Tupac, the first rapper killing in Las Vegas that was gang-related,” said Scott. “After that, I went down with a magazine to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina for 4 ½ months to write a book about rescuing dogs, cats, and other animals. My latest book is about two girls murdered in Torrey Pines six years apart.”
In between everything else she’s done, Scott also accompanied the military on a trip to Somalia, as well as having covered crime and blogging for Psychology Today magazine.
Scott talked about her favorite subject.
“I like to write about the underdog, people who’ve had crimes committed against them,” she said. “That’s always been my thing. I just find the mob fascinating and I’ve covered the mob heavily by writing mob books. But I’m still an investigative journalist by trade who happens to write books. They overlap.”
Scott has no regrets about the career path she chose noting community journalism was and is her foundation.
“When I broke in I was 38 years old competing with 20 year olds just coming out of school,” she pointed out. “My deal was to get to a daily as fast as I could. And then it was just to be the best newswoman I could be. When I do a narrative, non-fiction book, it’s reporting. If I break news in a book, it’s also reporting. I do the same interviews I would be doing if it was a news story. I’m just doing 80,000 words instead of 750. The beauty of it is you get to include everything. You’re not limited to a certain number of words.”
Scott’s wanted her writing to help make a difference. She got that with “Pawprints of Katrina,” her book on animal rescues in New Orleans post-hurricane.
“That was quite a moment in time for me, doing both rescues and writing about it,” she said adding that, since the publication of “Pawprints,” “There is now a federal law so that people will never have to be separated from their animals again in the event of a natural disaster. They (government) have to provide housing for animals if people evacuate the city and state.”
Of San Diego Community Newspaper Group owner and publisher Julie Main, Scott said: “Julie gave me an opportunity and I went for it. I was bitten by the news bug and that was my launching pad. It was a good place for me.”
Reflecting on community journalism and her role in it, Scott concluded: “There’s still a place for community stories. We need those. It’s so vital to the community. I always wanted to be a police reporter. I got there. And I’m still doing it.”

NON-FICTION BOOKS BY CATHLEEN SCOTT

“The Killing of Tupac Shakur,” 2014

“The Murder of Biggie Smalls,” 2000

“Death in the Desert: The Ted Binion Homicide Case,” 2012

“Seraphim Rose: The True Story and Private Letters,” 2000

“Murder of a Mafia Daughter: The Life and Tragic Death of Susan Berman,” 2002

“Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned,” 2008

“The Rough Guide to True Crime,” 2009

“The Millionaire’s Wife,” 2012

“Murder in Beverly Hills,” 2013

“Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Autobiography, (co-auther),” 2014

“Unconditional Honor: Wounded Warriors and Their Dogs,” 2015