Reading Guide: About the Author
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From the author's official website www.jamesmcbride.com
James McBride is an award-winning writer and composer. His critically acclaimed memoir, The Color of Water, won the 1997 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Literary Excellence, was an ALA Notable Book of the Year, and spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list. In 2003 it was a selection of "New York City Reads Together" and "One Book for Greater Hartford" as well as the 2004 selection of "One Book/One Philadelphia." The Color of Water has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the United States alone and is now required reading at numerous colleges and high schools across the country. It is a perennial favorite among book clubs and community-wide reading groups, and has been published in 16 languages and in more than 20 countries. McBride's 2003 release, Miracle at St. Anna, is the story of an Italian orphan who befriends a black American soldier in Italy during World War II.
McBride is a former staff writer for The Washington Post, People Magazine, and Boston Globe. His work has also appeared in Essence, Rolling Stone and The New York Times. Aside from his literary honors McBride is also a musician. He has written songs for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., Purafe, Gary Burton, the Silver Burdett music textbook series, and even for the television character Barney. He is the recipient of several awards for his work as a composer in musical theater, including the 1996 American Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Award, the 1996 ASCAP Richard Rodgers Horizons Award, and the American Music Festival's 1993 Stephen Sondheim Award. His 2003 jazz CD/documentary project, "The Process" was seen on Comcast Cable nationwide in fall 2003.
McBride has been featured in People, Newsweek, Savoy and USA Today. He has appeared on several national radio and television shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show , NPR's All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Morning Edition, and in major news outlets in Australia, New Zealand, and across Europe. James is a native New Yorker and graduate of New York City public schools. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Whitman College and The College of New Jersey. In 2004, he was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the National Council on the Arts.
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This page last updated: May 2, 2007