Duggleby, John 1952-

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Duggleby, John 1952-

PERSONAL:

Born January 1, 1952, in Muscatine, IA; children: Katie. Education: University of Iowa, B.A., 1973.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Duggleby Communications, 5322 Norma Rd., McFarland, WI 53558-9479. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, editor, biographer, performer, public speaker, and musician. Allstate Insurance, Northbrook, IL, magazine editor, 1976-78; American Telephone & Telegraph, Chicago, IL, member of corporate communications staff, 1978-81; Burson-Marsteller Public Relations, Chicago, member of creative staff, 1981-84; Duggleby Communications, McFarland, WI, owner, 1984—. Frequent presenter of interactive programs on John Lennon, Ray Charles, Grant Wood, and Jacob Lawrence at schools throughout the United States.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Wisconsin Public Relations Forum, Wisconsin Communicators Council.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Carter G. Woodson Book Awards Secondary Level Honor Book, National Council for the Social Studies, 2006, for Uh Huh! The Story of Ray Charles; Awards from Illinois Press Association and International Association of Business Communicators; Children's Crown nomination from the National Association of Christian Schools.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION; FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Sabertooth Cat, Crestwood House/Macmillan (New York, NY), 1989.

Pesticides, Crestwood House/Macmillan (New York, NY), 1990.

Doomed Expeditions, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker, Crestwood House/Macmillan (New York, NY), 1990.

Impossible Quests, illustrated by Allan Eitzen, Crestwood House/Macmillan (New York, NY), 1990.

Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1996.

Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1998.

Uh Huh! The Story of Ray Charles, Morgan Reynolds (Greensboro, NC), 2005.

Revolution: The Story of John Lennon, Morgan Reynolds (Greensboro, NC), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Business Week Careers, Country Living, Home, Mature Outlook, Redbook, and WaldenBooks Kid's Club.

SIDELIGHTS:

John Duggleby is a nonfiction writer and biographer whose works are geared toward teens and young readers. "My challenge in writing biographies is to be informative, even inspirational, without being dry and boring," Duggleby remarked in an autobiography on his home page. "I've tried to make my subjects come alive as real people, with particular attention to what they were like as kids. I think it's important for younger audiences to meet these artists as children, and see how early influences and observations contributed to their greatness." Several of Duggleby's biographies focus on painters, such as Grant Wood and Jacob Lawrence, and on musicians and performing artists, including Ray Charles and John Lennon. In addition to his written biographies, Duggleby often travels to schools across the country, where he presents performances on these artists.

Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood relates the life story of the artist whose most famous work, "American Gothic," a portrait of a dour Midwestern farmer and his daughter, has become an icon of American art and culture. Duggleby covers significant events in Wood's life, including his impoverished rural childhood, the many years of struggle to establish himself against an art world dominated by impressionists, and the suddenness of his success and recognition as an artist. Duggleby describes in depth Wood's ties to rural America, in particular his homeland of Iowa. He also covers the time Wood spent abroad, studying and expanding his knowledge and skills. Duggleby offers a "handsome, easy-to-read biography that places Wood's life against the background of the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution and its influences on American culture," commented Mary M. Burns in the Horn Book Magazine. Duggleby's book provides a "good, basic introduction to Wood's work and his life as an artist," remarked Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan. Duggleby's "lively and informative biography" belongs in "school or artroom libraries of all elementary and middle schools," remarked Kent Anderson, reviewing the book in School Arts. "Duggleby's homage … is a quietly inspiring portrait of the hard work, perseverance and downhome quirkiness of a major artist," stated a Publishers Weekly critic.

Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence is a "visually striking, well-researched biography of one of the premier African-American artists of the contemporary era," commented reviewer Deborah Taylor, writing in the Horn Book Magazine. Lawrence was well known for producing paintings that told a story, and many of his more notable story paintings covered events in black American history, such as the migration of African Americans from the South to the North, and the effects and legacy of slavery. Duggleby delves into Lawrence's youth and background, exploring how he grew up in Philadelphia and Harlem in impoverished circumstances but was exposed to many diverse cultural experiences in his early days. He notes how the lack of materials available to Lawrence during the Depression helped to shape the artist's style. Duggleby tracks Lawrence's involvement in cultural happenings of his day, including the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement, and the Black Pride movement. He also explains how Lawrence came to be accepted by the art world in general, and the significance of Lawrence's admittance into the fraternity of American artists. In assessing the book, a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: "This solid work of biography/art history commemorates an extraordinary living artist and pays tribute to Lawrence's determination, optimism and originality."

Uh Huh! The Story of Ray Charles covers the life of the legendary blues and soul musician. Charles's childhood and early years were marked by tragedy and poverty, including his blindness and the deaths of important family members. In his adult years, Charles engaged in marital infidelity and battled addiction to alcohol and heroin. Through it all, however, he remained a musician of prodigious energy and talent whose influence was felt by other singers, songwriters, and musicians in nearly every area of popular music. Duggleby carefully outlines the "triumphs and tragedies that shaped this towering figure in American popular music," commented GraceAnne A. DeCandido in Booklist. Reviewer Steev Baker, writing in School Library Journal, called the biography "a wonderful introduction to Charles as well as a great short history of African-American pop music."

Duggleby once told CA: "I was the first baby born in Muscatine, Iowa, on New Year's Day in 1952. I was raised in the eastern Iowa Mississippi River town of Clinton, in the same general area of rolling hills and fields that Grant Wood painted. Interestingly, American Gothic began to re-emerge as a cultural icon while I was growing up, so Wood became sort of an Iowa hero. Though I grew up in town, several people in my family were, or had been, farmers. My grandfather, Red Harter, gave me accounts of farming in the ‘old days’ that were remarkably similar to those of Wood, which I uncovered in researching Artist in Overalls.

"I went to the University of Iowa, where Wood first sneaked into art classes, and I graduated with a degree in journalism. I went through a series of jobs in my younger days, ranging from selling sporting goods to spending a summer lobster fishing in Long Island Sound, but I have made my living as a writer for the past twenty years. I began in newspaper work, was on the staff of a travel magazine, and did creative and public relations work before creating my own company, Duggleby Communications, in 1984.

"I now live just outside Madison, Wisconsin, in a little town called McFarland. It looks much like the Wood landscapes where I grew up, except there are more lakes and Holsteins. I am a single parent with a very cool daughter, Katie.

"Although I grew up among the Wood landscapes, I was no more than mildly interested in the artist until the mid-1980s. That's when a major retrospective of his work toured the country and stopped at Chicago, where I was living. His work absolutely bowled me over, and I wanted to know more about this relative unknown who painted what is arguably the most-recognized American artwork.

"As I learned more about this unique artist and the way his childhood so profoundly shaped his work, I thought he would make an excellent subject for a children's book. Wood's approach is very populist, and his work is very approachable. Wood himself was very childlike his whole life, and was interested in turning kids and other ‘typical’ people on to art. He believed art is for everyone, not just for a cultural elite and that art should be fun.

"I've witnessed the truth of these assertions firsthand, because, since the book was published, I've been a frequent guest of schools and libraries doing presentations on Wood's life and work. At the end of each program we all draw a live chicken—my co-star, Henrietta—and we definitely have lots of fun!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood, p. 1435; October 15, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence, p. 414; June 1, 2005, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Uh Huh! The Story of Ray Charles, p. 1772.

Children's Bookwatch, October, 2005, "Morgan Reynolds Publishing," review of Uh Huh!

Emergency Librarian, November-December, 1997, review of Artist in Overalls, p. 59.

Horn Book Magazine, July-August, 1996, Mary M. Burns, review of Artist in Overalls, p. 479; March, 1999, Deborah Taylor, review of Story Painter, p. 221.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 1996, review of Artist in Overalls, p. 372.

Publishers Weekly, April 1, 1996, review of Artist in Overalls, p. 77; September 14, 1998, review of Story Painter, p. 69.

School Arts, December, 1996, Kent Anderson, review of Artist in Overalls, p. 48; February, 2000, Kent Anderson, review of Story Painter, p. 62.

School Library Journal, February, 1991, Eva Elizabeth Van Ancken, review of Pesticides, p. 87; May, 1996, Shirley Wilton, review of Artist in Overalls, p. 121; April, 2004, Wendy Lukehart, review of Story Painter, p. 64; October, 2005, Steev Baker, review of Uh Huh!, p. 186.