James McBride is a New York Times bestsell ing author\, musician and screenwriter. His \;landmark memoir\, Th e Color of Water\, rested on the NYT bestseller list for two years an d explored \;McBride&rsquo\;s search for identity as the son of a whit e\, Jewish woman and a black man. It is considered an American classic and is read in schools and universities across the United States. His debut n ovel \;Miracle at St. Anna was translated into a major motion picture\, directed by American film icon Spike Lee. It was released by Di sney/Touchstone in September 2008. James wrote the script for Miracle at St. Anna and co-wrote Spike Lee's 2012 Red Hook Summer. H is \;novel\, Song Yet Sung\, was released in paperback in Jan uary 2009. His novel The Good Lord Bird\, \;about American re volutionary John Brown\, is the winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction and has been adapted by Ethan Hawke and Jason Blum into a Showtim e series bearing the same name. His 2020 novel\, Deacon King Kong \, tells the story of a 1969 shooting in Brooklyn and the strange intersec tions of the lives of the characters involved in the shooting. Deacon King Kong was a NYT bestseller\, winner of the National Book Award an d named a favorite book of the year by both Oprah Winfrey and President Ba rack Obama.
\nMcBride&rsquo\;s latest novel\, The Heaven &\; Earth Grocery Store\, tells the story of small-town secrets and the p eople who keep them. McBride shows us that even in dark times\, it is love and community&mdash\;heaven and earth&mdash\;that sustain us. The Hea ven &\; Earth Grocery Store was a runaway NYT bestseller and was n amed Best Book of the Year by NPR\, The Washington Post\, The New Yorker\, TIME Magazine\, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.\n
James is also a former staff writer for The Boston Globe\, People Magazine and The Washington Post. His work has a ppeared in Essence\, Rolling Stone and The New York Times. His April 2007 National Geographic story entitled &ld quo\;Hip Hop Planet&rdquo\; is considered a respected treatise on African American music and culture.
\nJames toured as a saxophonist sideman with jazz legend Jimmy Scott\, among others. He has also written songs (mu sic and lyrics) for Anita Baker\, Grover Washington Jr.\, Purafe\, Gary Bu rton\, and even for the PBS television character &ldquo\;Barney.&rdquo\; H e did not write the &ldquo\;I Love You&rdquo\; song for &ldquo\;Barney&rdq uo\; but wishes he did. He received the Stephen Sondheim Award and the Ric hard Rodgers Foundation Horizon Award for his musical &ldquo\;Bo-Bos\,&rdq uo\; co-written with playwright Ed Shockley. His 2003 &ldquo\;Riffin&rsquo \; and Pontificatin&rsquo\;&rdquo\; Musical Tour was captured in a nationa lly televised Comcast documentary. He has been featured on national radio and television in America\, Europe\, Australia and New Zealand. He often d oes his readings accompanied by a band. James is a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. He studied composition at The O berlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalis m from Columbia University in New York at age 22. He holds several honorar y doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New Y ork University. In the fall of 2016\, President Barack Obama awarded McBri de the 2015 National Humanities Medal "&hellip\;for humanizing the complex ities of discussing race in America. Through writings about his own unique ly American story\, and his works of fiction informed by our shared histor y\, his moving stories of love display the character of the American famil y."
\nJames McBride's website: www.jamesmcbride.com
\nBoth the Main Library and Doug lass Branch will close at 5 pm to prepare. Doors will open at 6:30 pm at t he Main Library.
\nBooks will be available for purchase and a book s igning will follow James McBride's presentation.
\nMade possible wit h support from the Library Friends and the Li brary Foundation. Part of the Great Authors at the Library series.
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