Jeannette Walls is an American author and journalist, born on April 21, 1960. She gained prominence as a former gossip columnist for MSNBC.com. Walls is best known for her memoir, The Glass Castle, which delves into her nomadic family life during her childhood. This memoir, published in 2005, has enjoyed significant success, remaining on the New York Times Best Seller list for 421 weeks as of June 3, 2018. She has been honored with the Alex Award and the Christopher Award in 2006, recognizing her contributions to literature and society.

Walls graduated with honors from Barnard College, a women's college affiliated with Columbia University. Her career as a journalist includes contributions to New York Magazine and USA Today, as well as appearances on The Today Show and PrimeTimeLive. Following the success of The Glass Castle, which has been published in over twenty countries, Walls decided to dedicate herself full-time to writing. She has received the Elle magazine readers' award in 2005 and the American Library Association award in 2006.

Currently, she is married to writer John Taylor, and the couple resides in Virginia.