Patricia McKissack (born August 09, 1944 Smyrna, Tennessee) is an American children's writer.[1] She is the author of three Dear America books: A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North, and Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl. She has also written a novel for The Royal Diaries series: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. Patricia currently lives in St. Louis with her husband, Frederick McKissack, with whom she co-won the Regina Medal in 1998.
Patricia McKissack is also a board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, a national not-for-profit that actively advocates for literacy, literature, and libraries.[2]
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Patricia L'Ann McKissack was born to civil servant parents Robert and Erma Carwell on August 9, 1944 in Smyrna, Tennessee. She was inspired to be a writer by her mother who always read her poetry and also by her grandparents who told her many stories. Her father's stories usually included the names of her and siblings Nolan and Sarah. The characters in these stories were always smart and brave, characteristics present in Patricia's later works. Patricia and her siblings grew up in the south and they all remember the poetry her mother told by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
When writing Someplace Special, Patricia remembers her favorite place to go as a child which was the Nashville Public Library. She always felt welcome and thats where she learned her love for reading. Many of the childhood stories Patricia heard from her mother and grandparents, later became stories she wrote when she became an author of books for children and young adults.
While attending the University of Georgia, Patricia met up with a childhood friend, Fredrick McKissack who would later become her husband. She graduated with an English degree while Fredrick obtained a civil engineering degree. They were married in 1965 and started their family right away. Patricia became a junior high school English teacher but in 1971 realized that she wanted to become an author. Her first book was a biography of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, her mothers favorite poet. She then went on to write many more biographies. [3] In 1975 McKissack says she started her professional writing career. She wrote mostly non-fiction and focused on issues such as racism. She spent considerable time writing 20 non-fiction books before she wrote her first picture book. Flossie and the Fox was sent to Ann Schwartz who was an editor at Dial. Schwartz threw the manuscript aside saying it was too long. Patricia did not want to shorten her manuscript at all but finally shortened it to 6 pages when it was finally accepted.
The Dark Thirty was another book Patricia wrote from childhood memories. The Dark Thirty was written to describe the 30 minutes before dark on a summer night. This was the time Patricia and many other authors spent on their porches telling and writing stories. These stories were all fiction but some were spun from pieces of her reality. Patricia also uses family, friends and places of her memory to write her stories from.
In 1980, Patricia became a full time author. Her family was moved to Suis where she started a writing service. Her husband, Fredrick McKissack also then became interested in writing and researching for non-fiction books. One of their goals as a couple was to introduce children to African American history and the historical figures that went along with it. Fredrick is the researcher of the pair and Patricia mostly writes up the research. They work together to make manuscripts that suit them both and together they aim to make history come alive in their stories for children. They believe strongly in the contributions of African Americans and show this in many of their stories they have created together. [4]
Today, Patricia and Fredrick are partners in All-Writing Services in St. Louis. They share an office that includes a library and two offices, one for each of them. They go to work daily and stay until all of their tasks are completed for that day. They have worked collaboratively on many works but one of the most famous was A Long Hard Journey: The Story of Pullman Porter which won the Coretta Scott King Award in 1990. They also wrote Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman who also won the Coretta Scott King Award in 1993. Patricia is also a recipient of the third annual Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, a Newbery Honor, National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award and a NAACP Image Award. [5]
Their two sons, Robert Lewis and John Patrick were born twins are now grown and were the inspiration for their book, Who is Who? The oldest of the children, Fredrick Jr. is also a writer and a journalist who collaborated with his mother to create the award winning title, Black Diamond, a book for older readers. For many years the McKissacks lived in a renovated inner-city home. They have since moved to their home in Chesterfield, Missouri and often enjoy visits from their grandson. They also enjoy growing roses and gardening.
Patricia and her husband Fredrick have worked and published over 100 books together, 20 years in the making. They are still working together on many works to come. Fredrick says they work so well together and their partnership is as strong as ever. He even says they "sigh at the same time." Patricia McKissack still longs to teach through her books and states, "she is not a black writer but rather a writer who happens to be black--I write for children of all races." [6]