Ron Powers is an American journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. Born on November 18, 1941, Powers has made significant contributions to literature and journalism. His works include No One Cares About Crazy People: My Family and the Heartbreak of Mental Illness in America; White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal; Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain; and Mark Twain: A Life, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Powers co-wrote the 2000 number-one New York Times Bestseller Flags of Our Fathers with James Bradley. The book won the Colby Award the following year and was adapted into a film in 2006, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Clint Eastwood. Additionally, he co-wrote with Ted Kennedy his memoir, True Compass, in 2009.

No One Cares About Crazy People was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and was named a Notable Book of the Year by The Washington Post and a Top Ten Book of the Year by People.

As a TV and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Powers won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1973, marking a significant achievement as he was the first television critic to win the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1985, Powers won an Emmy Award for his work on CBS News Sunday Morning. In 1993, he completed a biography of Muppets creator Jim Henson, which was scheduled for publication in October 1994, but after objections from the Henson family, Random House declined to release it.