Patrick, Diane (Diane Patrick-Wexler)

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PATRICK, Diane (Diane Patrick-Wexler)

PERSONAL:

Female.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER:

Freelance editor, writer, and journalist. Instructor and speaker at City University of New York Publishing Program, International Women's Writing Guild annual summer conference at Skidmore College, Center for Multicultural Children's Literature, Bronx WritersCorps, and Bronx Creative Arts for Youth.

WRITINGS:

UNDER NAME DIANE PATRICK

Martin Luther King, Jr., F. Watts (New York, NY), 1990.

(Coauthor) Book of Black Heroes, Volume 2: Great Women in the Struggle, Just Us Books, 1991.

Coretta Scott King, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1991.

Family Celebrations, Silver Moon Press (Little Rock, AR), 1993.

The Executive Branch, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1994.

The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History: A Book of Answers for Kids, Wiley (New York, NY), 1998.

Terry McMillan: The Unauthorized Biography, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1999.

UNDER NAME DIANE PATRICK-WEXLER

Barbara Jordan, Raintree/Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1995.

Colin Powell, Raintree/Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1995.

Walter Dean Myers, Raintree/Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1995.

Toni Morrison, Raintree/Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1996.

Contributor to anthologies, including Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction, Plume, 2001. Contributor to Publishers Weekly since 1998 and to other periodicals including Billboard, Jazziz, Jazz Times, and Legal Assistant Today.

SIDELIGHTS:

Freelance writer Diane Patrick specializes in composing biographical, legal, and business materials. She also works as a manuscript editor for other writers.

In Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King, Patrick presents the life stories of the assassinated civil rights activist and his wife. She emphasizes interesting facts regarding their childhood, education, and upbringing, as well as the events that led to their prominence as leaders in the civil rights movement. In the portrait of Coretta Scott King, Patrick discusses King's family background, commitment to both women's rights and civil rights, as well as her dignified response to the tragic killing of her husband. These books are intended for young readers who are new to topics such as African-American history, and thus provide general information and ample explanations of terms that readers might not be familiar with.

In The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History: A Book of Answers for Kids, Patrick presents a chronological history of African Americans, in question-and-answer format, divided into sections such as "From Africa to Colonial America," "From Revolution through the Civil War," "Emancipation and Reconstruction," and "The New Renaissance." In New York, Gerry Larson praised the book for its organization and recommended it as an "accessible guide for students." Liz Rosenberg wrote in the Boston Globe that although the book is intended for young adults, "there isn't an 'older adult' in America who shouldn't have it on her reference shelf."

Terry McMillan: The Unauthorized Biography is a biography of the African-American author of Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. A Publishers Weekly reviewer indicated that Patrick's account reveals that McMillan's success is due not only to her writing talent but also her "strength of character." The reviewer noted that Patrick's "prose displays energy and personality equal to that of her subject." Patrick tracks the author's life from her early years in Port Huron, Michigan, through her move to New York City, and her subsequent success as a writer. Patrick notes that McMillan's success as an African-American writer helped pave the way for other writers who followed. A Library Journal reviewer commented that the biography "should have a fairly wide appeal."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 1991, Sheilamae O'Hara, review of Coretta Scott King, p. 504; February 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History: A Book of Answers for Kids, p. 996.

Boston Globe, January 18, 1998, Liz Rosenberg, review of The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History, p. L3.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 1997, review of The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History, p. 1838; July 1, 1999, review of Terry McMillan: The Unauthorized Biography, p. 1026.

Library Journal, August, 1999, Gina Kaiser, review of Terry McMillan, p. 89; November 1, 1999, review of Terry McMillan, p. 106.

New York, April, 1998, Gerry Larson, review of The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History, p. 152.

Publishers Weekly, August 1, 1999, review of Terry McMillan, p. 333; December 13, 1999, review of Terry McMillan, p. 49.

School Library Journal, September, 1990, Jeannette Lambert, review of Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 244; February, 1992, review of Coretta Scott King, p. 116; April, 1998, review of The New York Public Library Amazing African-American History, p. 152; February, 1998, review of Toni Morrison, p. 114.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 1992, review of Coretta Scott King, p. 399.

Wilson Library Bulletin, February, 1994, review of Family Celebrations, p. 88.