Joan Anderson is an award-winning journalist and video producer who has worked in radio, print and television. She is also a children’s book author and playwright. Joan has spent her career in the field of communications and marketing with an emphasis on medical and consumer issues

When Joan was a young mother, she learned about the cancer-causing effects of fire-retardant chemicals used in children’s sleepwear and the preservatives used in their foods. She not only removed the harmful agents from her home but wanted to warn other parents of this problem. She took these issues to the media and spoke out on various news shows. That led to a position as a television and radio consumer reporter with KERA, the PBS affiliate in Dallas. She has also written articles for various magazines as well as for the Fort Worth Star Telegram and the Dallas Morning News.

Her award-winning investigative article, “Deep Sleep,” published in D Magazine (Dallas), revealed the cause of an unprecedented cluster of anesthesia deaths and was the impetus for a segment on the ABC show, 20/20, for which she consulted.

Also in D Magazine, her in-depth report, "The Baby Factory," chronicled the dangerous procedures used during the birth of her second child and helped usher in more patient-oriented childbirth procedures at hospitals in her home city of Fort Worth.

She won The American Cancer Society of Texas Journalist Award for her article, “A Time to Die,” which described a more sensitive and honest approach to dying offered by a controversial program at the time – Hospice.

Her video, Shelter from The Storm of Family Violence, which she produced in the late 1980’s, helped educate the public on this hidden problem, as well as highlighting the important work of the women’s shelter in Fort Worth. The video won an award from the Dallas Chapter of Women in Communication.

Joan left journalism and TV/radio reporting when she was given the opportunity to help start the community cable television channel for the City of Fort Worth where she also produced and hosted shows and documentaries. From there she took a position as a healthcare administrator for a major Texas health system.

Joan helped write two books with a nationally recognized physician and also co-wrote a highly successful children’s book, Diggy Armadillo Goes to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. The book was incorporated into the Fort Worth ISD third-grade curriculum. It was also published each year for grades 2-6 by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as part of their "Newspapers in Education" series. Diggy Armadillo received an endorsement from the then first lady, Laura Bush.

Joan’s most recent book, " My Action Plan: Stopping the Symptoms of Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome/Dysautonomia," was released October, 2021.
Website: www.MVPSBook.com