Christopher Paul Curtis
| Christopher Paul Curtis | |
|---|---|
Curtis in 2014
|
|
| Born |
May 10, 1953 Flint, Michigan, USA |
| Occupation | Writer, speaker |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan–Flint |
| Period | 1995–present |
| Genre | Children's literature, especially historical fiction |
| Notable works | |
| Notable awards |
Newbery Medal 2000 |
| Website | |
| nobodybutcurtis |
|
Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953) is an American writer of children's books. He is known for the Newbery Medal-winning Bud, Not Buddy and the critically acclaimed The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963. The latter was adapted for a TV movie of the same name, which aired on the Hallmark Channel in 2013.
Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan, on May 10, 1953, to Dr. Herman Elmer Curtis, a chiropodist and factory worker/supervisor, and Leslie Jane Curtis, an educator. He has set many of his books in Flint.
Curtis attended Dewey Elementary, Clark Elementary, Pierce Elementary (in the Academically Gifted Program), Whittier Junior High School, and McKinley Junior High School of the Flint Public School System. (In 1967, he was the first African-American student to be elected to the student council in the school's 32-year history). He graduated from Flint Southwestern High School in 1972 at the age of 19. Returning to college after working for years, he graduated from the University of Michigan–Flint in 2000.
The summer after graduating from high school, Curtis became a member of a Lansing-based theatrical/musical group called Suitcase Theater. The group was directed by Powell Lindsay and performed musical numbers and the works of Langston Hughes. The group performed in Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Canada, and the United States.
Curtis spent 13 years after high school working on the assembly line of Flint's Fisher Body Plant #1. His job entailed hanging car doors on Electra 225s and LeSabres. He later claimed his experience left him with an aversion to getting into large cars, particularly Buicks. After quitting Fisher Body, he took a series of low-paying jobs. He worked as a groundskeeper at Stonegate Manor housing cooperative in Flint, served as the Flint campaign co-manager for United States Senator Donald Riegle, as customer service representative for Mich Con in Detroit, temporary worker for Manpower in Detroit, and warehouse clerk for Automated Data Processing in Allen Park, Michigan.
...
Wikipedia