James Tobin (author)

James Tobin (born 1956 or 1957) is an American journalism professor at Miami University since 2007. Before he started teaching at Miami, Tobin was a reporter for The Detroit News from 1986 to 1997. While at the newspaper, Tobin wrote Ernie Pyle's War, America's Eyewitness to World War in 1997. After his Ernie Pyle biography won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the biography and autobiography category, Tobin ended his journalism career and continued to write.

As an author, Tobin released Great Projects: The Building of America in 2001 before publishing To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight in 2003. From 2009 to 2013, Tobin extended his works to children's books with Sue MacDonald Had a Book and The Very Inappropriate Word. While teaching, Tobin published a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt titled The Man He Became: How FDR Defined Polio to Win the Presidency. During his writing career, Tobin received the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award in 2000 and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in 2008.

Early life and education

In the late 1950s, Tobin was born in Detroit, Michigan.[1] As a child, Tobin liked aviation after he visited Greenfield Village during school excursions.[2] He also liked to read a series about history called Childhood of Famous Americans.[3] For his post-secondary education, Tobin studied history at the University of Michigan and received a doctor's degree.[1]

Career

In 1986, Tobin began reporting on medical and educational stories for the The Detroit News.[4][1] While working for the newspaper, Tobin spent four years writing a biography about Ernie Pyle.[5] For his biography, Tobin used letters, newspaper columns by Pyle and interviews with soldiers.[6] In June 1997, Ernie Pyle's War, America's Eyewitness to World War II was published by Free Press. In March 1998, Ernie Pyle's War won the 1997 National Book Critics Circle Award in the biography and autobiography category.[7][8] After winning the award, Tobin decided to end his journalism career and become an author.[5]

In the early 2000s, Tobin worked on a book about the Wright brothers for three and a half years. During this time period, he published Great Projects: The Building of America and worked in public relations.[5] After Great Projects was released in 2001, it was made into a PBS TV series in 2002.[9] For research on his Wright brothers book, Tobin flew in a replica of one of the Wright brothers airplanes at Jockey's Ridge State Park in North Carolina.[10] In 2003. Tobin released To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight on the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers airplane flight.[11]

After teaching journalism at Miami University as a visiting scholar in 2006, Tobin was promoted to professor in 2007.[12] While teaching at Miami, Tobin released a 2013 book about Franklin D. Roosevelt titled The Man He Became: How FDR Defined Polio to Win the Presidency. For his book, Tobin focused on Roosevelt's life from the early 1920s to early 1930s when Roosevelt had polio.[13] Between 2009 to 2013, Tobin extended his publications to children's works with Sue MacDonald Had a Book and The Very Inappropriate Word.[3]

Awards and honors

Ernie Pyle's War earned Tobin a spot on the Notable Books of 1997 by The New York Times.[14] While writing his Wright brothers book, Tobin received the 2000 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for Work of the Wind: A Remarkable Family, an Overlooked Genius, and the Race for Flight.[15][16] In 2008, Tobin received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship while he was writing his book on Roosevelt.[17] In 2010, To Conquer the Air was named one of the top five books on invention by William Rosen of The Wall Street Journal.[18]

Personal life

Tobin is married and has two children.[4]

References
  1. Holleman, Joe (April 23, 2003). "Doing Right by the Wright brothers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. E4.
  2. Anderson, Halie (July 26, 2010). "MU prof's book recognized by the Wall Street Journal". Hamilton Journal News. p. A4.
  3. Gordon, Ken (June 12, 2015). "Former reporter melds love of history, narrative writing in bios". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  4. Palmisano, Joseph, ed. (2006). "Tobin, James". Contemporary Authors. New Revision. 151. Detroit & Munich: Thomson Gale. p. 376. ISBN 0787679054. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  5. Shine, Dan (June 23, 2003). "Author enjoys hard-earned luxuries". Detroit Free Press. p. 6B.
  6. Sweeney, Mike (August 3, 1997). "Ernie Pyle's War". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. sec. D p. 7.
  7. "Briton Fitzgerald wins fiction prize for 'The Blue Flower'". The Baltimore Sun. March 25, 1998. p. 2E.
  8. "The National Book Critics Circle Award". National Book Critics Circle. 1997. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  9. Kumar, Lisa, ed. (2011). "Tobin, James". Something About the Author. 226. Detroit & London: Gale, Cengage Learning. p. 199. ISBN 9781414461298. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  10. Gaffney, Timothy R. (April 24, 2003). "Author lets his mind and body soar". Dayton Daily News. p. E6.
  11. Rabin, Kurt (April 5, 2012). "Great Lives series is about to get some air with Wright brothers historian". The Free-Lance Star. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  12. Crane, Emily (February 27, 2014). "Miami professors become grandfathers days apart". Journal-News. Hamilton, Ohio.
  13. Gleringer, Joe (March 10, 2014). "FDR's victory in the book". The Journal-News. Hamilton, Ohio. p. B4.
  14. "Notable Books of the Year 1997". The New York Times. December 7, 1997. sec. 7 p. 58. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  15. Patterson, Donald W. (May 20, 2000). "Interest in First Flight's Centennial is Sky High in U.S. Arts Community". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  16. "The J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards". Columbia Journalism School. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  17. "MU professor receives fellowship". The Journal News. Hamilton, Ohio. April 13, 2008. p. C2.
  18. Rosen, William (June 19, 2010). "Books: Five Best". The Wall Street Journal (Eastern ed.). p. W8.
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