T.J. Stiles
Encyclopedia
T. J. Stiles is a biographer who lives in San Francisco, California
. His most recent book, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009), won the 2009 National Book Award
for Nonfiction and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize
for Biography
.
. He graduated from Carleton College
in Northfield, Minnesota
with Distinction in History, and received a fellowship to study European history at Columbia University
in New York, New York. After completing all work for a doctorate
but a dissertation, he took a position in publishing
at Oxford University Press
, where he worked on books by some of the leading American historians.
The book received a cover review in the New York Times Book Review, and was favorably reviewed by many other publications in the United States and abroad. A minor controversy flared up after its publication, when biographer Ted P. Yeatman, author of Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend (Nashville: Cumberland Books, 2000), attacked Stiles on the History News Network website. Before Yeatman died, Stiles writes, the two put the conflict behind them. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War won general acclaim. It was named a New York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography, one of the Five Best Books of the Year by the London Sunday Times, an American Library Association Notable Book, one of the New York Public Library's 25 Books to Remember, and a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bookpage, and the London Independent. It also won the English Speaking Union's Ambassador Book Award
, the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship, the James-Younger Gang's Perry Award, and the Friends of the James Farm's John Newman Edwards Award.
, the nineteenth-century shipping and railroad mogul, financial backer of Vanderbilt University
, and founder of the Gilded Age
Vanderbilt dynasty. This book was also was widely and very favorably reviewed. It went on to win the 2009 National Book Award
for Nonfiction and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize
for Biography
. It was also named
a New York Times Notable Book and one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other publications.
. From 2004 to 2005, Stiles held the Gilder Lehrman Fellowship in American History at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library
. He has also received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Carleton College.
.
Currently Stiles also serves on the executive council of the Authors Guild and on the advisory council of the Biographers International Organization
. He also blogs about the "art of biography writing" at http://vanderbilog.blogspot.com.
karate-do, and holds a 5th Dan from the Japan Karate Association
. A resident of New York City for twenty years, he now lives in San Francisco, California, with his wife and son.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. His most recent book, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009), won the 2009 National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for Nonfiction and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
.
Background
According to Stiles's website, he was born and reared in Foley, a farming community in rural central MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. He graduated from Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
in Northfield, Minnesota
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
with Distinction in History, and received a fellowship to study European history at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York, New York. After completing all work for a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
but a dissertation, he took a position in publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
at Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, where he worked on books by some of the leading American historians.
Early Publications
In the 1990s, Stiles edited a series of anthologies of primary sources on American history. These included The Citizen's Handbook (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1994); In Their Own Words: Civil War Commanders (New York: Perigee Books, 1995), In Their Own Words: Warriors and Pioneers (New York: Perigee Books, 1996), In Their Own Words: Robber Barons and Radicals (New York: Perigee Books, 1997), In Their Own Words: The Colonizers (New York: Perigee Books, 1998), and In Their Own Words: Founding Fathers (New York: Perigee Books, 1999), later republished as The American Revolution. Stiles also wrote for periodicals, authoring pieces for Smithsonian, Denver Post, and the Los Angeles Times.Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War
In 2002, Stiles published Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002). This was a widely noted reassessment of the legendary outlaw, focusing on his life and historical role, rather than his folk-culture status. Stiles argued that Jesse James won political support by depicting himself as a Confederate avenger after the Civil War, as opposed to the traditional notion that he was an anti-railroad Robin Hood figure.The book received a cover review in the New York Times Book Review, and was favorably reviewed by many other publications in the United States and abroad. A minor controversy flared up after its publication, when biographer Ted P. Yeatman, author of Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend (Nashville: Cumberland Books, 2000), attacked Stiles on the History News Network website. Before Yeatman died, Stiles writes, the two put the conflict behind them. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War won general acclaim. It was named a New York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography, one of the Five Best Books of the Year by the London Sunday Times, an American Library Association Notable Book, one of the New York Public Library's 25 Books to Remember, and a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bookpage, and the London Independent. It also won the English Speaking Union's Ambassador Book Award
Ambassador Book Award
The Ambassador Book Award is awarded annually by the English Speaking Union. It recognizes important literary works that contribute to the understanding and interpretation of American life and culture. Winners of the award are considered literary ambassadors who provide, in the best contemporary...
, the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship, the James-Younger Gang's Perry Award, and the Friends of the James Farm's John Newman Edwards Award.
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
In 2009, after seven years of work, Stiles published his second biography, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009). This massive study was the first comprehensive account of the life of "Commodore" Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
, the nineteenth-century shipping and railroad mogul, financial backer of Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, and founder of the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
Vanderbilt dynasty. This book was also was widely and very favorably reviewed. It went on to win the 2009 National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for Nonfiction and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
. It was also named
a New York Times Notable Book and one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other publications.
Fellowships and Other Awards
In 2011, Stiles received a Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
. From 2004 to 2005, Stiles held the Gilder Lehrman Fellowship in American History at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
. He has also received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Carleton College.
Other Writings, Appearances, and Professional Positions
Stiles has published numerous reviews and essays. He has written for the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Salon.com, The Atlantic online, and the New York Observer. He is also a popular public speaker and has appeared on several television documentaries. He served as a consultant and on-screen interview subject in the PBS series The American Experience, for the films Jesse James and Grand Central, among other programs. He also taught nonfiction creative writing at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Currently Stiles also serves on the executive council of the Authors Guild and on the advisory council of the 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:...
. He also blogs about the "art of biography writing" at http://vanderbilog.blogspot.com.
Personal life
Stiles practices and teaches Japanese ShotokanShotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
karate-do, and holds a 5th Dan from the Japan Karate Association
Japan Karate Association
Japan Karate Association is one of the most influential Shotokan karate organizations in the world...
. A resident of New York City for twenty years, he now lives in San Francisco, California, with his wife and son.