Ross McCammon, an acclaimed editor and author, joins Texas Monthly‘s editorial staff today as its deputy editor, reporting to the editor in chief, Dan Goodgame. McCammon was born in Houston and grew up in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. (Check out the story on Dallas-area favorite El Fenix that he wrote for Texas Monthly earlier this year.) He graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in English. He got his start in journalism at Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine (which, coincidentally, served as an early training ground for TM creative director Emily Kimbro and features director J. K. Nickell). There McCammon worked his way up from fact-checker to editor in chief.  

He moved to New York in 2005 to work at Esquire, where he edited the Man at His Best section (nominated for six National Magazine Awards), along with cover stories and other feature articles. At GQ, he edited packages and features for both the print magazine and the website. He was the special projects editor at Men’s Health, and he most recently worked as an executive editor at Medium. 

McCammon has written profiles, features, and humor pieces for those publications, as well as for Bloomberg Businessweek, Cosmopolitan, Elle, McSweeney’s, Parents, Real Simple, the Wall Street Journal, and Wired. His book Works Well With Others examines the relationship between workplace behavior and success. (In the UK it’s titled The Impostor’s Handbook, and it’s been translated into five languages.)

McCammon first started working with Texas Monthly as the editor of the magazine’s 2023 Bum Steer Awards, and he has been working on contract with the magazine since. He will work especially closely with Kimbro; Anna Walsh, the director of editorial operations; and Sandi Villarreal, the magazine’s digital deputy editor.

“We’re fortunate to be able to recruit an editor of Ross’s experience and quality who also has deep roots in Texas,” Goodgame said. “He’s a delight to work with, has a wicked sense of humor, and is a patient and effective coach of young writers and editors.”

McCammon, his wife, and their two children are in the process of moving to Austin from New York.

“Serving the audience of Texas Monthly, both in-state and out, is a professional dream come true,” McCammon said. “Texas Monthly‘s writers and editors, past and present, have created a cultural and journalistic treasure, and, as both a longtime reader and a sixth-generation Texan, I couldn’t feel more honored to be a part of this singular institution.”