Larry Barber is an award-winning writer-producer of more than 100 episodes of television. His credits include two linked shows from 21 Jump Street about refugees from the U.S.-sponsored war in El Salvador. These episodes were followed by PSAs for Amnesty International, resulting in 4,000 new members for the human rights organization, and for which he won an Imagen Award. He also wrote the television movie American Meltdown about the dangers of terrorism to ill-protected U.S. nuclear power plants. His work on The X-Files was recognized as one of the best 100 television shows in Hollywood history.
Other writing has included:
In film, scripts for Francis Ford Coppola and Quincy Jones, Michael Mann, and Oliver Stone.
In fiction, studied writing with Richard Ford.
In screenwriting, taught at the 2015 San Miguel Writers’ Conference and will again in 2026.
In 2016, Larry finished An Unlikely Strength: Tourette Syndrome and the Search for Happiness in 60 Voices. Sixty adults and children tell their intimate stories of Tourette syndrome, how it affects their lives and self-image and how, despite it all, they persevere with strength and hope. An Unlikely Strength is a resource guide, sharing stories of suffering and exile, as well as those of creating a fruitful and satisfying life. The book is available at Amazon.com [Search Unlikely Strength Barber].
Larry, with Tom Saffer, wrote Countdown Zero, an exposé about military men used by the Department of Defense to determine how to win on a nuclear battlefield. Fission bombs were tested in Nevada (Safer) and fusion bombs, the big boys, were tested in remote areas of the Pacific Ocean (Barber). All 250,000 unwitting volunteers were exposed to large radiation doses but were denied VA coverage when their illnesses manifested years later. This book played a key role in reversing that policy.
Larry is now writing about his family history in Latin America and his experiences in San Miguel de Allende.
Larry’s family is Guatemalan-American and he grew up in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica; he lives in San Miguel.
[Take a look at his Writing Samples on this website.]