Born in Flint,
Michigan, Christopher Paul Curtis spent his first 13 years after high school on
the assembly line of Flint's historic Fisher Body Plant #1. His job entailed
hanging car doors, and it left him with an aversion to getting into and out of
large automobiles—particularly big Buicks.
Curtis's
writing—and his dedication to it—has been greatly influenced by his family
members, particularly his wife, Kaysandra. With grandfathers like Earl "Lefty" Lewis, a Negro Baseball League pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman
E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, it
is easy to see why Christopher Paul Curtis was destined to become an
entertainer.
He made an outstanding debut in children's literature with The
Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. His second novel, Bud,
Not Buddy, is the first book ever to receive both the Newbery Medal and
the Coretta Scott King Author Award.
Fun Facts
Family
Christopher
Paul Curtis and his wife, Kaysandra, have two children, Steven and Cydney.
Christopher
modeled characters in Bud,
Not Buddy after his two amazing grandfathers—Earl "Lefty"
Lewis, a Negro Baseball League pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E.
Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression.
Writing
Christopher
Paul Curtis is a great reader, but as a youth he could not find books "that were about me."
After high
school, he spent 13 years on the assembly line of the Fisher Body
plant, hanging 80-pound car doors on Buicks (while attending college at
night!). He wrote during his breaks to escape the noise of the factory.
Christopher
took a year off from work to write The
Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. He sat in the children's room of
the Windsor Public Library and wrote in longhand. His son Steven typed his
father's drafts into their computer and served as first reader.
Hobbies
Playing
basketball
Collecting old
record albums
Writing!
Favorite Books
Anything by
Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, or Zora Neale Hurston.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Random House Children's Books.
This biography was last updated on 04/26/2006.
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