Maximillian Potter ‘93: A Born Writer in Lifelong Pursuit of the Truth

When award-winning writer and author Maximillian Potter arrived at Allegheny College in 1989, he felt like he was born to be a writer but was trying to figure out what that meant. Majoring in English and minoring in creative writing gave him an opportunity to sharpen his skills and find his voice. Equally important was the support and encouragement from Allegheny faculty members, especially Dr. Sonya Jones and Dr. Diane Goodman, who both helped Max chart his path.

"Dr. Jones, my journalism professor, nudged me to start submitting the pieces I was writing in her class to The Campus, and they started getting published," Max recalled. "Around the same time I did an internship at The Meadville Tribune and began contributing pieces. I also submitted my work to The Harrisburg Patriot-News for a section generated by college journalists."

Max will never forget his story profiling classmate Nedzad Ajanovic, '95, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose town came under siege during the Bosnian War. "The genocide was unfolding in real time in 1992 and Ned described how Serbian tanks surrounded the community where his parents lived. He described how snipers targeted his family and friends, the massacre of innocent civilians, and the concentration camp for the people left behind," he recalled. "I wrote about it for The Campus and the story was picked up by The Patriot-News."

By senior year, Max's career goals were becoming clear. "I saw journalism as a potential career path, period full stop. I was starting to do just enough of it, and I dared to think I might be able to make a living at it."

"I knew I wanted to write in a way that addressed telling the truths about who we are as human beings in the world," Max said. "Drs. Jones and Goodman helped me see that I had a number of routes to take to make this a career, and Professor Ben Slote emphasized writing and storytelling in my junior seminar. They had such a profound impact on my next steps," Max said.

Max's career has spanned 33 years thus far, and he's successfully combined the skills of a fiction writer and a journalist. Today, he writes long-form narrative non-fiction, magazine pieces and has authored two best-selling books. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a media strategist, editor and writer for Protect Democracy, a cross-ideological nonprofit group.

"All of those things that were percolating at Allegheny College encouraged me to report the facts and present them so the reader can feel the truth. They have become my life," Max said. "It's been my life."