James Haskins
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James Haskins (September 19, 1941-July 6, 2005) was a prolific author with more than one hundred books for both adults and children. Many of his books highlight the achievements of African Americans and cover the history and culture of Africa and the African American experience. His work also included many biographical subjects ranging from Hank Aaron to Malcolm X. Most of his writings were for young people. He wrote on a great variety of subjects that introduced young people to the language and cultures of other countries especially Africa.
Haskins was born in Demopolis, Alabama in 1941, and spent his childhood in a household with lots of children. He received his high school education in Boston, Massachusetts. He received a B.A. degree from Georgetown University in 1960, a B.S. degree from Alabama State University in 1962, and a M.A. degree from the University of New Mexico in 1963. After graduation, before decided to become a teacher, he moved to New York and worked as a stock trader on Wall Street. He taught music and special education classes in Harlem. His first book Diary of a Schoolteacher was a result of his experience. He was the professor of English at the University of Florida, Gainesville and lived in New York City.
Haskins won many awards fro his work. Several of his books won the Goretta Scott King Award many times including The Story of Steve Wonder that won the Goretta Scott King Award in 1976 and Lena Horne won the same award in 1984. Bircktop was chosen by the English-Speaking Union to be a Book-Across-the –Sea in 1983. Black music in America won the 1988 Carter G. Woodson Book Award of the National Council for Social Studies. His four-book Count Your Way series (Arab World, China, Japan, and Russia) won the Alabama Library Association Award for best work for children in 1988. In 1994, he was presented the Washington Post Children’s Book Guide Award. Mr. Haskins died in 2005 of complications of emphysema.
[edit] References
- Gale References Team, Who’s Who Among African Americans: Biography- Haskins, James S (1941). Gale, 2005
- Kumar, Lisa, Something About the Author. Volume 165. Thomson Gale, 2006
- Also see James Haskins in This Goodly Land: Alabama’s Literary Landscape
