Charles J. Shields
Encyclopedia
Charles J. Shields is an American biographer, primarily of 20th century American novelists.
on the Delaware river
where his father was a reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin and his mother was a housewife. After his father began working in public relations for Ford Motor Company
, Shields was raised in Park Forest, Illinois
, a community for veterans and their families that was similar to Levittown, an experiment in post-war planning described and critiqued in William H. Whyte’s The Organization Man. Shields later attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he received degrees in English and American history. He currently lives in Barboursville, Virginia
with his wife, Guadalupe, a former Chicago
school principal.
, selected by the New York
Public Library as one of the “Best Books for the Teen Age” in 2003. School Library Journal wrote, “This fine biography of a second-generation American should be read by all immigrant teens and children of immigrants as they sort out how to cope with their parents and come to an understanding of their own bicultural heritage.” Shields's biography of Martha Stewart for adolescents was reviewed in the Atlantic Monthly by Caitlin Flanagan, who remarked that it was superior to another biography of Ms. Stewart written for adults.
Shields published his first biography for adults in 2006, and Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee went on to became a New York Times bestseller. “This biography will not disappoint those who loved the novel and the feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout, in whom Harper Lee
put so much of herself,” wrote Garrison Keillor
in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. “As readable, convincing, and engrossing as Lee’s literary wonder,” said the Orlando Sentinel.
Two years later, Shields followed-up his biography of Lee with a young adult version: I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (Holt), which received awards from American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults; Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Arizona Grand Canyon Young Readers Master List.
In 2009, with fellow biographers Nigel Hamilton
, James McGrath Morris, and Debby Applegate
, Shields co-founded Biographers International Organization
(BIO), a non-profit organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners. As of July 2011, BIO has members in 43 American states and 10 nations, including Australia, India, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
Shields is also associate director of the Great Lives Lecture Series at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia
which brings prominent biographers and historians to campus. In November 2011, Shields published the first biography of Kurt Vonnegut, And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life
Biography
Shields was born in Chester, PennsylvaniaChester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
on the Delaware river
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
where his father was a reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin and his mother was a housewife. After his father began working in public relations for Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Shields was raised in Park Forest, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, a community for veterans and their families that was similar to Levittown, an experiment in post-war planning described and critiqued in William H. Whyte’s The Organization Man. Shields later attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he received degrees in English and American history. He currently lives in Barboursville, Virginia
Barboursville, Virginia
Barboursville is an unincorporated community in Albemarle and Orange counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. Barboursville is famous for being the birthplace of renowned American military commander and President Zachary Taylor...
with his wife, Guadalupe, a former Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
school principal.
Literary Biography
In 1997, Shields left a career in high school teaching and administration to write independently. Over the course of the next six years, he published 20 histories and biographies for young people, including a biography of writer Amy TanAmy Tan
Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
, selected by the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Public Library as one of the “Best Books for the Teen Age” in 2003. School Library Journal wrote, “This fine biography of a second-generation American should be read by all immigrant teens and children of immigrants as they sort out how to cope with their parents and come to an understanding of their own bicultural heritage.” Shields's biography of Martha Stewart for adolescents was reviewed in the Atlantic Monthly by Caitlin Flanagan, who remarked that it was superior to another biography of Ms. Stewart written for adults.
Shields published his first biography for adults in 2006, and Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee went on to became a New York Times bestseller. “This biography will not disappoint those who loved the novel and the feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout, in whom Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
put so much of herself,” wrote Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. “As readable, convincing, and engrossing as Lee’s literary wonder,” said the Orlando Sentinel.
Two years later, Shields followed-up his biography of Lee with a young adult version: I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (Holt), which received awards from American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults; Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Arizona Grand Canyon Young Readers Master List.
In 2009, with fellow biographers Nigel Hamilton
Nigel Hamilton (author)
Nigel Hamilton is an award-winning British-born biographer, academic and broadcaster, whose works have been translated into sixteen languages. In the United States he is known primarily for his best-selling work on the young John F. Kennedy, JFK: Reckless Youth, which was made into an ABC...
, James McGrath Morris, and Debby Applegate
Debby Applegate
Debby Applegate is an American historian and biographer. She is the author of The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, for which she won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.-Biography:...
, Shields co-founded Biographers International Organization
Biographers International Organization
Biographers International Organization is a non-profit organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners.-History:...
(BIO), a non-profit organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners. As of July 2011, BIO has members in 43 American states and 10 nations, including Australia, India, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
Shields is also associate director of the Great Lives Lecture Series at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
which brings prominent biographers and historians to campus. In November 2011, Shields published the first biography of Kurt Vonnegut, And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life
External links
- Biographers International Organization
- “Charles J. Shields— Biographer”
- Great Lives Lecture Series at the University of Mary Washington
- “Writing Kurt Vonnegut: A Biographer’s Notebook”