COLBERT, David

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Graduate of Brown University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Berkley Books, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author and editor. HarperCollins, New York, NY, vice president of publishing; HarperCollins Canada, editor-in-chief; HarperCollins, San Francisco, CA, publisher, beginning 1992. Formerly a head writer for the television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Eyewitness to America: Five-Hundred Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor) Eyewitness to the American West: From the Aztec Empire to the Digital Frontier in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, Viking (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor) Eyewitness to America: From the First Frontier to the New Age Seekers in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, Viking (New York, NY), 1998.

Eyewitness to Wall Street: Four-Hundred Years of Dreamers, Schemers, Busts, and Booms, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2001.

The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts, Lumina Press (Wrightsville Beach, NC), 2001.

(Editor) WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature, foreword by James Bradley, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 2001.

(Editor) Baseball: The National Pastime in Art and Literature, foreword by W. P. Kinsella, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 2001.

The Magical Worlds of the Lord of the Rings: The Amazing Myths, Legends, and Facts behind the Masterpiece, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: David Colbert is the editor of large anthologies on American history as well as books that explore the fictional worlds of J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series and J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. In Eyewitness to America: Five-Hundred Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, Colbert offers hundreds of writings and oral histories of the persons who observed, created, and participated in the growth of America. Covering everything from Columbus and the Native Americans to journalist John Seabrook's email correspondence with computer magnate Bill Gates, Colbert gives readers a thorough and distinctly diverse look at American history. He includes William Bradford's account of the Pilgrims' first winter, John Peter Zenger's thoughts on freedom of the press, Joseph Hosmer's portrait of Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond, a transcript of Benjamin Franklin's argument against the Stamp Act at the British Parliament, and social activist Abbie Hoffman's discussion of Woodstock. Colbert's selection of literary voices runs the cultural gamut, from fiction author Flannery O'Connor to poet and musician Patti Smith. Herbert Mitgang of Tribune Books called Eyewitness to America a "highly readable book" and "the kind that can be opened anywhere." Booklist's Donna Seaman assessed Colbert's book as "vivid," believing "every narrative" to be "as fresh as today's headlines."

Colbert gives readers another eclectic look at American history in Eyewitness to America: From the First Frontier to the New Age Seekers in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen. In this multi-faceted collection of essays, accounts, and transcripts, Colbert relates stories about the Butch Cassidy gang, the Zoot Suit Riot in Los Angeles in 1943, and the invention of Levi's jeans. He includes Cesar Chavez's explanation of how to become an activist, Rudyard Kipling's description of the stockyards in Chicago, and Sam Houston's recollections of Santa Ana's defeat at San Jacinto in what Jay Freeman of Booklist called "an excellent book." Linda L. McEwan, writing in the Library Journal, said that Eyewitness to America is an "engaging look at the frontier spirit."

Colbert continued the "Eyewitness" series with Eyewitness to the American West: From the Aztec Empire to the Digital Frontier in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, a collection of over two hundred vignettes compiled from historical and modern sources such as diaries, letters, and memoirs. These documents detail western episodes from the time of Cortez and the Aztecs, to western immigration, to the 1960s and beyond. Colbert arranges contributor documents to create a sequence showing the interrelation of many events of the American West. He provides an examination of how one event influenced the next and, overall, how America is richer for its western culture. Colbert relates the plight of the first Americans, highlighting figures such as Sacagawea and Black Elk, as well as tragic events, including the Trail of Tears. Many famous western outlaws, such as Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and Billy the Kid are also underscored in this work. Colbert builds on his cultural connections, ultimately tying them to the modern cultural elements such as West Coast music and Texas high-school football. In a review for the Historian, David Wrobel considered Eyewitness to the American West to be "an excellent follow-up to the author's successful recent collection," praising the author's "knack for gathering interesting primary sources," some of which are "fascinating and saddening."

Beginning with the founding of New Amsterdam in the 1600s, Colbert's Eyewitness to Wall Street: Four-Hundred Years of Dreamers, Schemers, Busts, and Booms traces the history of American's financial ventures. Like Eyewitness to America, the book is comprised of letters, journal entries, newspaper articles, book excerpts, and other accounts on American finance. Writing in Library Journal, Richard Drezen claimed that Eyewitness to Wall Street attempts to cover too much ground, resulting in a sparse coverage of the earliest American financial history, of which not many accounts exist. The reviewer did, however, admit, "Several of the pieces are first-rate." Drezen also added that in respect to Colbert's desire to "[reveal] the human side of business," Colbert "admirably captures the history of America's richest street."

For his next project, Colbert delved into the world of Harry Potter, the popular children's book creation by J. K. Rowling that became a phenomenon of American mainstream culture. The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts was written as a companion to the Potter novels and endeavors to explain some of the more abstract words and concepts in Rowling's books. Colbert defines many terms used in the books, including "animagus" and "Voldemort," and attempts to answer questions such as, "Have witches always flown on broomsticks?" Reviewers praised The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, the majority considering the book enjoyable for both adults and children and as much fun as the original series. In a review for January Magazine, India Wilson stated that The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter is "a startlingly good companion to Rowling's series." Wilson felt that "Unlike some of the non-Rowling written companion volumes, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter doesn't attempt to strip the magic away," and "Colbert's book can be [children's] first non-school motivated departure into history, myth, and legend." Boston Herald contributor Rosemary Herbert recommended the work "for anyone who aims to be an Hermione-esque repository of information." The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter is "a title that will appeal to Harry Potter's multitude of fans," concluded Mary Lankford in School Library Journal. In 2002, the author came out with The Magical Worlds of the Lord of the Rings: The Amazing Myths, Legends, and Facts behind the Masterpiece, a similarly structured work about Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

In 2001, Colbert undertook the documentation of two often-discussed topics in American history: baseball and war. Baseball: The National Pastime in Art and Literature is similar to the "Eyewitness" series in that it recounts baseball-related stories from many famous American figures through poetry, fiction, nonfiction, paintings, sketches, and other forms of American art. Contributors to this volume include the master of horror Stephen King, poet Ogden Nash, and novelist Philip Roth, as well as the legendary Yankees player Yogi Berra and celebrated American pop artist Andy Warhol. WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature follows in the same convention as many of Colbert's previous books, but with a more somber tone. It is comprised of eyewitness stories, newspaper articles, and even poetry and fiction on the vast subject. It also showcases a variety of artwork penned and painted by famous artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Norman Rockwell. WWII offers readers a glimpse of the courage, tragedy, and patriotism of a country and its soldiers and citizens at war.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Colbert, David, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Barron's, December 3, 2001, Anne Logue, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street: Four-Hundred Years of Dreamers, Schemers, Busts, and Booms, p. 34.

Booklist, January 1, 1997, Donna Seaman, review of Eyewitness to America: Five-Hundred Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, p. 809; September 1, 1998, Jay Freeman, review of Eyewitness to America: From the First Frontier to the New Age Seekers in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, p. 61; March 1, 2001, Mary Whaley, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 1220.

BookPage, May, 2001, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 21.

Books and Culture, September, 1999, review of Eyewitness to the American West: From the Aztec Empire to the Digital Frontier in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, p. 42.

Bookseller, September 21, 2001, "Puffin Potter Guide," brief article on The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts, p. 6.

Book World, February 25, 2001, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 6.

Boston Herald, June 9, 2002, Rosemary Herbert, "Editor's Choice," review of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, p. 54.

Detroit Free Press, July 29, 2001, review of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, p. 5E.

Economist, March 8, 1997, p. 99.

Historian, winter, 2001, David Wrobel, review of Eyewitness to the American West, p. 406.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance, November, 2002, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 30.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2001, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 228.

Kliatt, January, 1999, review of Eyewitness to America, p. 30; November, 2002, Donna L. Scanlon, review of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, p. 28.

Library Journal, October 1, 1998, Linda L. McEwan, review of Eyewitness to America: From the First Frontier to the New Age Seekers in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, p. 110; March 15, 2001, Richard Drezen, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 92.

Modern Maturity, March-April, 2001, Jon Spayde, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 96.

New Yorker, September 17, 2001, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 169.

Publishers Weekly, March 12, 2001, review of Eyewitness to Wall Street, p. 69; March 19, 2001, review of Baseball: The National Pastime in Art and Literature, p. 92.

School Librarian, spring, 2002, review of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, p. 50.

School Library Journal, February, 2002, Mary Lankford, review of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, p. 142.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), April 27, 1997, Herbert Mitgang, review of Eyewitness to America: Five-Hundred Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen, p. 1.

ONLINE

January Magazine Web site, http://www.januarymagazine.com/ (April 6, 2004), India Wilson, "The Magical Touch of a Successful Franchise," review of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter.

Lumina Press Web site, http://www.luminapress.com/ (April 6, 2004), "The Author" and description of The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter.

Palm Digital Media Web site, http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/ (April 6, 2004), "David Colbert."