James McBride

James McBride is a renaissance man and a born storyteller. He is the author of The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, a moving narrative about his mother, a white Jewish woman from Poland who married a black man, founded a Baptist church, and put 12 children through college.

The Color of Water is an American classic, read in colleges and high schools nationwide. It has sold more than two million copies and spent two years on The New York Times Bestseller List. McBride’s second book, Miracle at St. Anna, is now a Touchstone/Disney film, directed by American film icon Spike Lee. His most recent book, Song Yet Sung, is a national bestseller and the 2009 choice of “One Book/One Maryland.”

A graduate of Oberlin and the Columbia School of Journalism, McBride has written for The Boston Globe, People, and The Washington Post. A little known fact about McBride is that he spent six months covering Michael Jackson and his family for People, at the height of Jackson’s career, during his 1984 Victory Tour. An award-winning composer and saxophonist, McBride has penned songs (music and lyrics) for Anita Baker, Grover Washington, Jr., Gary Burton, and even for the PBS character “Barney.”

McBride touches upon life’s rich lessons, exploring the nature of identity, race, and heritage. He often appears with his own jazz ensemble, using music to inspire audiences and lift his colorful, often humorous stories to another level. He is an inspiring speaker, always delighted to meet students, non-judgmental, non-confrontational, speaking to the common good that unites us all. It is his mantra.

“All of my work speaks to the commonality of the human experience,” he says. “That’s where I live, to move audiences to think, to question, and to find common ground."