Carolyn R. Boiarsky is an investigative reporter and academic. She began her career as Statehouse correspondent for United Press International (UPI) in 1964, one of only a few female investigative reporters in the country at that time. She went on to become a television news reporter for the West Virginia CBS affiliate WCHS-TV. She has published in the New Republic, the Progressive, and various newspaper Sunday supplements. Later she became a professor of English at Purdue University Northwest, authoring five books on teaching composition and professional writing. She also founded the Northwest Indiana Writing Project. Recently, she retired, returning to her first career as a writer with her book Lead Babies and Poisoned Housing.