Keith White Jr.

Keith White Jr.

White at a book signing, May 2014
Born Keith Andrew White II
April 14, 1981
Buffalo, New York, United States
Occupation author, illustrator, screenwriter, actor, radio host
Years active 1998–present
Spouse(s) Cassandra White (3 sons)

Keith White Jr. (born April 14, 1981) is an American author of children's books, radio personality, screen writer, film director, occasional actor and contributor to the video game website extraguy.com[1] and the website StuffDudesLike.com.[2] His first children's book Andrew and the Pirates was released on April 13, 2013.[3]

Early life

White, an only child, was born in Buffalo NY in 1981. He graduated from the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (BAVPA) with a "Visual Arts" diploma in 1999. While at BAVPA, White wrote for the school newspaper, co-illustrated the papers only comic strip and appeared on the BAVPA Morning Show.[4] In early 1999 White, along with other students from BAVPA helped to renovate Shea's Performing Arts Center in the downtown Buffalo.[5] In 2013 White's middle son Andrew was diagnosed with neurological problems including motor and tic disorders as well as attention deficit problems and hyperactivity after being unable to keep his attention on his school work and uncontrollably rolling his eyes and rubbing his fingers together until they blistered.[6]

Literary career

White wrote his first book Andrew and the Pirates as a way to help both his son's confidence and his schoolwork. After the success of Andrew and the Pirates Keith began work on his second book Big Top Andrew. As of 22 January 2014 there are 22 books in the "Color-With-Me" series.[7] Each book features 10 chapters. The chapters are followed by a picture to color based on what was just read. The "Color-With-Me" books have been the focus of articles in several newspapers and he has been a special guest at various events around the New York area.

Title Publication Date Author Illustrator Publisher
Andrew and the Pirates April 13, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Big Top Andrew May 7, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew and The Main Event June 5, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Sherlock Andrew and the Book Thief July 28, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin's Cleaning Day August 17, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew and Collin's Summer Road Trip September 20, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Night of the Living Andrew October 19, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Conductor Collin November 27, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew and Collin Save Christmas December 29, 2013 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew and The Phantom of the Playground January 24, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin's Winter Break February 28, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew and the Alien Invader March 14, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew on Safari April 2, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin's Magic Show May 23, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin the Pirate June 13, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin and the Main Event Rematch July 15, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Quick-Draw Collin August 7, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Captain Collin and The Andrew Avenger September 5, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin and the Son of Dracula October 14, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin's Thanksgiving Surprise November 27, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew's Abominable Christmas December 19, 2014 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Sherlock Andrew and the Valentine's Day Mystery January 19, 2015 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Collin's Missing Teeth February 28, 2015 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com
Andrew and Collin's Shamrock Surprise April 18, 2015 Keith White Jr. Keith White Jr. Amazon.com

The book Andrew and The Main Event featured Western New York pro wrestling promotion ESW and independent wrestlers Salvatore Morocco and Tango Torrez. Torrez went on to be featured in other "Color-With-Me" Adventure books, including Night of the Living Andrew and Andrew and Collin Save Christmas. Salvatore Morocco and Tango Torrez were reunited in the 2014 release Collin and the Main Event Rematch.

In July, 2013 White and Troma Entertainment founder Lloyd Kaufman began discussions about White creating a book featuring both his "Color-With-Me" Adventure characters and characters from the early 90's cartoon The Toxic Crusaders.[8] White gave his followers on Twitter a cover sneak peek of the proposed book on July 21, 2013.[9]

In September 2013 White made a deal with Data Design Interactive for use of their Ninjabread Man video game character in a Christmas book. In December of that year White's Andrew and Collin Save Christmas came out without Ninjabread Man as a character. It is unknown if he will still appear in a future book.

An official "Color-With-Me" Adventure merchandise store opened in July, 2014 on the website Zazzle.[10] The site offers hats, shirts, playing cards, baby items and more. White said on Twitter that new items will be added in the coming weeks.[11]

On August 15, 2014 White sent out a cryptic tweet saying that he had a long weekend ahead playing the video game Shutshimi by Neon Deity Games hashtagging the word "research". The message was retweeted by the official Shutshimi Twitter page.[12] On August 23, 2014 White tweeted out a blurry picture of what appears to be a framed print of the Shutshimi book cover directed at the Shutshimi Twitter page.[13] The book Sherlock Andrew and the Valentine's Day Mystery (released in January, 2015) had both a reference to Shutshimi and a picture of the game's main character "The Fishy" to color after one of the chapters.

"Color-With-Me" Cartoon Classic DVDs

In September, 2014 it was announced that White was working with DVD publisher Cartoon Classics to create artwork for their line of "Color-With-Me" branded cartoon DVDs.[14] The DVDs will each come in a "Color-With-Me" DVD case that features front and back artwork for the child to color. There will also be a place for them to write their name, both on the case and on the DVD disc top. The first DVD in the series was released on September 26, 2014 and features the first 9 of the Superman (1940s cartoons).[15]

On October 1, 2014 "Color-With-Me" Classic Cartoons Vol. 2 was released by DVD publisher Cartoon Classics. Volume 2 has artwork from the book Andrew and Collin Save Christmas and features 8 Christmas themed classic cartoons with a run time of 74 minutes.[16]

In late October 2014 a third volume was released in the "Color-With-Me" Classic Cartoons DVD series. Vol. 3 features artwork from Night of the Living Andrew and cartoons that are Halloween themed. It has a run time of just over 60 minutes.[17]

"Color-With-Me" Classic Cartoons Vol. 4 was released on December 10, 2014. It was the first DVD in the series to feature original artwork not taken from a "Color-With-Me" Adventure book. With a run-time of 79 minutes it is also the longest DVD in the series.

Special Appearances

During June 2013, the West Herr Auto Group had Keith as a guest as part of the 2013 "Keeping Kids Safe Project" event at West Herr Toyota in Orchard Park, NY.[18] In July 2013 the West Herr Auto Group again had Keith as a special guest at their company picnic. West Herr purchased 1,000 copies of "Andrew and the Pirates" and had Keith at a table signing books and taking pictures with the employees' children.[19]

In August 2013 Keith was a special guest at ChalkFest 2013[20] in downtown Buffalo NY. He spend the day drawing the characters from his "Color-With-Me" Book series on the sidewalks and letting children color them in with chalk.

In August and September 2013, Keith was the special guest at ESW wrestling events MeltDown[21] and OverDrive to promote the book "Andrew and The Main Event".[22]

In October 2013 the Buffalo International Film Festival hosted a meet and greet book signing with Keith and his "Color-With-Me" book series before the screenings of Magic Camp and Dear Mr. Watterson.[23] A basket of Keith's "Color-With-Me" books were auctioned off at the "2nd Annual Best Sellers Fundraiser" event to benefit The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library's Children's Literacy Fund[24] in November 2013.

In May 2014, "The Bookworm" in the village of East Aurora, New York hosted White and his book series as part of an East Aurora Families Day event, featuring simultaneous activities, events and special guests throughout different locations in the village.

June 20 and 21 2014, Keith was once again a guest at West Herr Toyota of Orchard Park for the "Keeping Kids Safe Project" event. He gave away free autographed specially marked "West Herr Special Edition" copies of his first book "Andrew and the Pirates" and took photos with the kids.[25]

On October 12, 2014, White was a guest of the Buffalo International Film Festival before the screening of a compilation of short films from both the Buffalo NY area and internationally. Attendants had the opportunity to receive a free special edition copy of Andrew and the Pirates, a "Color-With-Me" bookmark and a mini poster featuring all the "Color-With-Me" Adventure books.[26]

The Bookworm bookstore in East Aurora, New York presented a Teacher's Night on October 16, 2014. Keith White Jr. was there to talk with area teachers about his book series and how they could potentially help in the classroom. White then did a book signing/meet & great event from 6-8 PM with his "Color-With-Me" Adventure books.[27]

Keith was a guest author at the Cheektowaga Central School District's "Superhero Literacy Festival" on January 22, 2015 at Union East Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New York. He signed over 100 free copies of his first book Andrew and the Pirates that were donated to the festival by the West Herr Auto Group. He also posed for photographs and colored pictures taken from the "Color-With-Me" book series with the children in attendance.

Film, Television & Radio

On Television White has been on The Thurman Thomas Show, The Andre Reed Show, The Frank Reich Show and other Buffalo Bills related shows on Empire Sports Network.[28]

White has had parts in the movies The Falls, Manna from Heaven (film), Henry's Crime, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Return to Nuke 'Em High Vol.1 and most recently Sharknado 2: The Second One.

White co-hosted the video game radio show "The Digital Ensemble" on 91.3 fm WBNY from 2005–2010.[29] The show was a talk show that featured news, interviews with notable people in the video game world and music both from games and inspired by games.

In May 2014 it was announced on Twitter that television station WBBZ-TV in the Buffalo NY area is in talks with White to start a Children's television series on weekday mornings. It was not announced what kind of show it would be.[30]

White has been in two Television advertisements for the West Herr Auto Group.

In November 2014 White made it known on Twitter that he was interested in bringing back "The Digital Ensemble" either on the radio or as a podcast.[31]

Media Coverage

In June 2013 Keith was featured on Your News Now on Time Warner Cable.[32]

The July 18, 2013 issue of Bee Group Newspapers features an article on Keith called "Someone You Should Know".[33]

The Buffalo News did a full page color article on Keith, his family and his book series on August 19, 2013.[34]

The September 1, 2013 issue of The Source (newspaper) featured a story on Keith and his books.[35]

Sezoni Whitfield of Writers Kaboodle did an interview with White on March 27, 2014.[36] In the interview White discussed how his children feel about his books and how he decides what subjects (be it pirates, the circus or pro wrestling) to use for each new book in the series.

In April 2014 Keith was a guest on the pro wrestling radio shows "Under The Mat Radio"[37] in Baltimore, Md and in May 2014 he was on "Rock N Wrestle"[38] in the UK. Both appearances were to promote the book "Andrew and The Main Event". While on "Under The Mat Radio", Keith announced that he had begun work on a sequel titled "Collin and the Main Event Rematch". According to Keith, the sequel will be released sometime during the summer. Collin and the Main Event Rematch was released on July 15, 2014.

The July 12, 2014 issue of the West Seneca & Elma Sun featured a story focusing on White's first book and how he wrote it so that his son could write a book report at school about it. The story featured new quotes from White about his book series and his family life.[39]

On October 28, 2014 the online magazine Buffalo Rising presented a piece on White's "Color-With-Me" Adventure books. The article featured quotes from White where his described the joy and empowerment he felt when his son wrote a book report on the book Andrew and the Pirates and got an "A" on it. The article was written by Buffalo Rising founder Newell Nussbaumer.[40]

The Cheektowaga Courier newspaper did a front page feature on White and his books in their November 14, 2014 issue. The article was directed at parents and teachers looking for a way to get reluctant readers and children with ADHD to enjoy reading.[41]

On January 09, 2015 the website "Stuff Dudes Like" did a story on Keith and his transformation from a traditional dude, into a "Dude: Evolved". The story was written by Mike O'Brien as an introduction of Keith and his writing to the SDL audience.[42]

References

  1. ↑ "Keith White Jr. on Extraguy.com"
  2. ↑ "Keith White Jr. on StuffDudesLike.com"
  3. ↑ "Keith White Jr. on Goodreads"
  4. ↑ "BAVPA Morning Show on UStream"
  5. ↑ Hausmann, Anna Geronimo & Schuman, Nicole. "Best of WNY: Historic Theaters", Buffalo Spree, October, 2003.
  6. ↑ Vogel, Charity. "Cheektowaga resident creates combination reading and coloring books to help kids with attention problems", The Buffalo News, August 19, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Amazon Author Page for Keith White Jr."
  8. ↑ "Twitter conversation between Keith White Jr. and Lloyd Kaufman about working together on a book project", July 2013
  9. ↑ "First look at Collin and Andrew Meet The Toxic Crusaders via Twitter July 21, 2013
  10. ↑ "Official "Color-With-Me" Adventure Merchandise store on Zazzle"
  11. ↑ ""Color-With-Me" Official Merchandise store announcement via Twitter" July 31, 2014
  12. ↑ Cryptic tweet by Keith White Jr. about the video game Shutshimi August 15, 2014
  13. ↑ Tweeted photo of the Shutshimi book cover August 23, 2014
  14. ↑ Unofficial announcement/Thank you to Keith White Jr. for creating artwork for the Cartoon Classics Vol.1 DVD September 16, 2014
  15. ↑ Amazon page for "Color-With-Me" Classic Cartoons Vol. 1 September 26, 2014
  16. ↑ Amazon page for "Color-With-Me" Classic Cartoons Vol. 2 October 1, 2014
  17. ↑ Amazon page for "Color-With-Me" Classic Cartoons Vol. 3 October 13, 2014
  18. ↑ "Picutre from Keeping Kids Safe Event via Twitter", June 29, 2013
  19. ↑ "Picture of White at West Herr Company Picnic via Twitter", July 29, 2013
  20. ↑ "ChalkFest 2013 Photo Gallery on WGRZ.com"
  21. ↑ "Picture from ESW MeltDown event via Twitter", August 29, 2013
  22. ↑ "White's upcoming events via Twitter", Sept 18, 2013
  23. ↑ "2013 Buffalo International Film Festival Schedule"
  24. ↑ "Best Sellers Fundraiser page on the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library website"
  25. ↑ Orchard Park Sun Staff. "Safety fair provides parents with additional tools to keep children safe", The Orchard Park Sun, June 14, 2014
  26. ↑ 2014 Buffalo International Film Festival Schedule
  27. ↑ Twitter post from Keith White Jr. inviting people down to a book signing at The Bookworm book store, Oct 16, 2014
  28. ↑ "Empire Sports Network, A Look At Buffalo Bills Player Shows"
  29. ↑ "The Digital Ensemble on FaceBook"
  30. ↑ "Twitter conversation between White and WBBZ about pitching TV show", May 2014
  31. ↑ Tweet from Keith White Jr. about his desire to bring back The Digital Ensemble, November 2014
  32. ↑ "Picture of White on YNN via Twitter", July 16, 2013
  33. ↑ Carlson, Erika. "SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW", Bee Group Newspapers, July 18, 2013.
  34. ↑ Vogel, Charity. "Cheektowaga resident creates combination reading and coloring books to help kids with attention problems", The Buffalo News, August 19, 2013.
  35. ↑ Summerson, Mia. "Resident writes series aimed at children with A.D.H.D.", The Source (newspaper), September 1, 2013.
  36. ↑ "Writers Kaboodle interivew with Keith White Jr.", March 27, 2014
  37. ↑ "Under the Mat Radio on PWKGW.com"
  38. ↑ "Rock N Wrestle on North Highland Radio"
  39. ↑ Snickles, Kimberly. "Dad helps son with book reports by writing very own book for him", The West Seneca & Elma Sun, July 15, 2014.
  40. ↑ Nussbaumer, Newell. "“Color With Me” Adventures By Keith White Jr.", Buffalo Rising, October 28, 2014.
  41. ↑ Kelly, Debra. "Cheektowaga Author Develops Special Series of Books", Cheektowaga Courier, November 14, 2014.
  42. ↑ O'Brien, Mike. "Dude: Evolved!", Stuff Dudes Like, January 09, 2015.

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