Spotlight On...
Russell Freedman
Russell Freedman grew up in San Francisco and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. After serving with the Second Infantry Division during the Korean War, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press, and later as a publicist for several network television shows. His first book, Teenager Who Made History, was published in 1961. Since then he has been a full-time writer.
One of America’s most honored writers of nonfiction books for young readers, Mr. Freedman’s work has garnered numerous awards including a Newbery Medal for Lincoln: A Photobiography, three Newbery Honors, the Regina Medal, the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award, the Orbis Pictus Award, the Sibert Medal, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for “a lasting and substantial contribution to children’s books,” among many other honors. His most recent book with Holiday House is Washington at Valley Forge. This celebrated author of over fifty biographies and other nonfiction books lives in New York City and travels the globe to gather material for his works.
A Note from Russell Freedman—
“It seems that I was predestined to become a writer. My parents met in a bookshop and held their first conversation over a stack of bestsellers. She was a salesclerk, and he was the West Coast representative of a large publishing house. They married soon afterward, and I grew up in a house filled with books and with the lively conversations and disputes of visiting authors.
“When I went to work as a cub reporter for the Associated Press, I learned to meet deadlines and respect facts. Later, as a television publicity writer, I learned that if you fail to capture and hold a reader’s interest, you’re just blowing in the wind.
“Today I enjoy studying and writing about subjects that for some reason excite my curiosity, enthusiasm, or concern. Starting a new book is like trying to solve a puzzle. You have to decide what to include and what to leave out, how to begin, what to emphasize and where, how to balance facts and interpretation, how to breathe life into the subject and convey your own enthusiasm to the reader. The process of viewing the material, of seeing what belongs where, is a mystery I never resolve once and for all.
“Like every other writer, a nonfiction writer is essentially a storyteller. Whatever my subject, I always feel that I have a story to tell that is worth telling, and so I want to tell it as clearly and simply and effectively as I can, in a way that will stretch the reader’s imagination and make that reader care.”
Books by Russell Freedman
BUFFALO HUNT, Reinforced
FREEDOM WALKERS: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Trade Binding
FREEDOM WALKERS: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Paperback
GIVE ME LIBERTY!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence, Trade Binding
GIVE ME LIBERTY!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence, Paperback
Holiday House, the First Sixty-Five Years, Board Book
IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY: The Story Of America's Bill Of Rights, Trade Binding
INDIAN CHIEFS, Reinforced
INDIAN CHIEFS, Paperback
AN INDIAN WINTER, Trade Binding
Lafayette and the American Revolution, Trade Binding
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF CRAZY HORSE, Trade Binding
WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE, Trade Binding
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS: How They Invented The Airplane, Trade Binding
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS: How They Invented The Airplane, Paperback
