James McBride (writer)

James McBride
McBride at the 2013 Texas Book Festival
McBride at the 2013 Texas Book Festival
Born (1957-09-11) September 11, 1957
New York City, New York, United States
OccupationWriter and musician
EducationOberlin College (BA)
Columbia University (MA)
GenreMemoir, screenplay
Notable worksThe Color of Water

The Good Lord Bird (National Book Award, 2013)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Notable awardsAnisfield-Wolf Book Award
Children3
Signature
Website
jamesmcbride.com

James McBride (born September 11, 1957) is an American writer and musician. He is the recipient of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction for his novel The Good Lord Bird.

Early life

McBride's father, Andrew D. McBride was African-American; he was a reverend and died of cancer at the age of 45. His mother, Ruchel Dwajra Zylska (name changed to Rachel Deborah Shilsky, and later to Ruth McBride Jordan), was a Jewish immigrant from Poland. James was raised in Brooklyn's Red Hook housing projects until he was seven years old and was the last child Ruth had from her first marriage, the last child of Andrew McBride, and the eighth of 12 children.

McBride has stated:

Technically I guess you could say I'm Jewish since my mother was Jewish...but she converted (to Christianity). So the question is for theologians to answer."[1]

His memoir, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (1995), describes his family history and his relationship with his mother.[2]

McBride graduated from Oberlin College in 1979, and received his journalism degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1980.[3][4]

Career

Writing

McBride is known for his 1995 bestselling memoir The Color of Water, which describes his life growing up in a large, poor American-African family led by an ethnically Jewish mother. His mother was the daughter of an Orthodox rabbi. During her first marriage, to James McBride's father Andrew McBride, she converted to Christianity and became a devout Christian. The memoir, which won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award,[5] spent more than two years on The New York Times Best Seller list. It is read in high schools and universities across America, has been translated into 16 languages, and sold more than 2.1 million copies.[6]

In 2002, McBride published the novel Miracle at St. Anna, drawing on the history of the majority African-American 92nd Infantry Division in the Italian campaign from mid-1944 to April 1945. The book was adapted into the 2008 movie Miracle at St. Anna, directed by Spike Lee.[7]

In 2005, McBride published first volume of The Process, a CD-based documentary about life as lived by low-profile jazz musicians.[8]

His 2008 novel Song Yet Sung is about an enslaved woman with prophetic dreams, as well as a wide array of freed black people, other enslaved people, and white people whose lives come together during the last weeks of the woman's life. Harriet Tubman served as an inspiration for the book, which gives a fictional depiction of a code of communication that enslaved people used to help runaways attain freedom. The book, based on real events that occurred on Maryland's Eastern Shore, also features serial killer Patty Cannon as a villain.[9]

In 2012, McBride co-wrote and co-produced Red Hook Summer (2012) with Spike Lee.[10]

In July 2013, McBride co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy).[11]

In August 2013, his novel The Good Lord Bird was released by Riverhead Books. The work details the life of abolitionist John Brown. It won the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction.[12]

On September 22, 2016, President Barack Obama awarded McBride the 2015 National Humanities Medal "for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America."[13]

McBride in 2018

In December 2020, Emily Temple of Literary Hub reported that his novel Deacon King Kong had made 16 lists of the best books of 2020,[14] while in February 2021 it won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.[15] Deacon King Kong received the 2021 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction[16] and was selected for Oprah's Book Club.[17]

In 2023, he released The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, about the intertwining lives of African-American, Jewish, immigrant, and white residents in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, largely taking place in the 1920s and 30s. The novel was named 2023 Book of the Year by both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.[18] It was also awarded the Kirkus Prize for Fiction,[19] the Association of Jewish Libraries' 2024 Jewish Fiction Award,[20] and the 2024 Sophie Brody Award.[21] In 2025, the novel was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award.[22]

On November 3, 2025, McBride was inducted Into the 2025 class of Library Lions by the New York Public Library.[23]

McBride is a Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at New York University.[24]

Music

McBride was the tenor saxophonist for the Rock Bottom Remainders, a group of musician-authors. He also toured as a saxophonist with jazz singer Jimmy Scott.[25] He has written songs for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., Pura Fé, and Gary Burton.[26] McBride composed the theme music for the Clint Harding Network, Jonathan Demme's documentary Right to Return, and Ed Shockley's musical Bobos.[27]

McBride was awarded the American Music Theater Festival's Stephen Sondheim Award in 1993,[28] the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater in 1996,[29] and the inaugural ASCAP Richard Rodgers Horizons Award in 1996.[30]

Personal life

McBride has three children with his ex-wife and lives in New York City and Lambertville, New Jersey.[31]

Bibliography

  • The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother (1995)
  • Miracle at St. Anna (2002)
  • Song Yet Sung (2008)
  • The Good Lord Bird (2013)
  • Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul (2016)
  • Five-Carat Soul (2017)
  • Deacon King Kong (2020)
  • The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023)

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Sherwin, Elisabeth (February 9, 1997). "One man's unique story about poverty, race, family". Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  2. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (January 16, 2010). "Ruth McBride Jordan, Subject of Son's Book 'Color of Water,' Dies at 88". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  3. ^ "James McBride, Caroline Kennedy, and Other Alumni in the News". Columbia Magazine. Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  4. ^ Krislov, Marvin (November 7, 2016). "Thank You James McBride". Oberlin College and Conservatory. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  5. ^ "The Color of Water". Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "One Book, One Philadelphia: The Color of Water Reading Guide". Free Library of Philadelphia. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  7. ^ Jennings, Sheri (September 28, 2008). "Spike Lee Goes to War With 'St. Anna'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  8. ^ "John Grisham Writers Hour - James McBride". PRX - Public Radio Exchange. February 27, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  9. ^ Bell, Madison Smartt (February 3, 2008). "Prophetic Dreams". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  10. ^ "James McBride". African American Literature Book Club. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  11. ^ "Hard Listening". Rock Bottom Remainders. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  12. ^ "The Good Lord Bird". National Book Foundation. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  13. ^ Dwyer, Colin (September 22, 2016). "At White House, A Golden Moment For America's Great Artists And Patrons". NPR. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  14. ^ Temple, Emily (December 15, 2020). "The Ultimate Best Books of 2020 List". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  15. ^ "2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced". American Libraries Magazine. February 4, 2021. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  16. ^ Jefferson, Tara (April 5, 2021). "Introducing Our Class of 2021". Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  17. ^ "Oprah's New Book Club Pick: Deacon King Kong by James McBride". Oprah.com. June 16, 2020.
  18. ^ "A Double Honor: THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE Now Amazon Book of the Year, B&N Book of the Year". Penguin Random House. November 16, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  19. ^ "'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store' Wins Kirkus Prize for Fiction". Voice of America. October 11, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  20. ^ Marketing, Chris (February 15, 2024). "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store Wins the 2024 Jewish Fiction Award". Eisenhower Public Library. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  21. ^ Moore, Ninah (January 20, 2024). "James McBride named Winner of 2024 Sophie Brody Medal". RUSA Update. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
  22. ^ "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store". Dublin Literary Award. January 14, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  23. ^ "2025 Library Lions". The New York Public Library. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  24. ^ "Distinguished Writer in Residence James McBride Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". NYU Journalism. October 14, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  25. ^ McDonald, Will (September 7, 2025). "James McBride". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on February 11, 2026. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  26. ^ "The Color of Water". Andreas Teuber. Brandeis University. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  27. ^ Carlozo, Louis (February 26, 2008). "My other passion / JAMES McBRIDE". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  28. ^ "James McBride". OAM. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  29. ^ "All Awards". American Academy of Arts and Letters. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  30. ^ "The ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award". The ASCAP Foundation. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  31. ^ Bosman, Julie (November 24, 2013). "Traveling With John Brown Along the Road to Literary Celebrity". The New York Times'. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
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