Dean King (born 1962) is an American author of narrative non-fiction on adventure, historical and maritime subjects. His books include '' Skeletons on the Zahara'' (2004) and '' Unbound'' (2010), both published by

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

. He is the author of companion books to Patrick O'Brian's '' Aubrey-Maturin series'' of novels and is the first biographer of O'Brian. In his biography, ''Patrick O'Brian: A Life'' (2000), which was excerpted in four full pages in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, King revealed that O'Brian was not really of Irish origin, as O'Brian claimed, and that he had changed his name by deed poll in London in 1945. King has also published articles in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

National Geographic Adventure Nat Geo People was an international pay television channel owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). Targeted at female audiences, with programming ...

'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', '' Outside'' and other magazines and newspapers.

Early life and education

King was born and raised in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, where he attended St. Christopher's School. He then attended the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC S ...

, where he played on UNC's 1982 National Champion Lacrosse team and edited the undergraduate literary magazine while earning his bachelor's degree in English. He was also a member of the North Carolina Xi chapter of

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

. After graduating, he and a friend spent a week and a half walking across the entirety of England. He earned his master's degree in English at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, studying under

Gloria Naylor Gloria Naylor (January 25, 1950 – September 28, 2016) was an American novelist, known for novels including '' The Women of Brewster Place'' (1982)'', Linden Hills'' (1985) and '' Mama Day'' (1988)''.'' Early life and education Naylor was bor ...

, John A. Williams, and

E. L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...

Writing career

Magazines

After further travel in England and France, King worked for a decade in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. While there he became an original contributing editor to ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' is an American monthly men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenne ...

'' and wrote for other publications, including ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

Art & Antiques ''Art & Antiques'' is an American arts magazine. History 1984 launch ''Art & Antiques'' launched its premier issue in March 1984. While the magazine disclaimed any connection to a previous publication of the same name, the company had in fact ...

'', ''

Travel + Leisure Magazine ''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark ...

'', ''

Connoisseur A connoisseur (French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator o ...

'', and ''The New York Times''. He is a past director of book publishing at ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

''. In the early 1990s he also founded the out-of-print ''Bubba Magazine'', a publication that poked fun at

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

. The publication garnered national press after its February 9, 1993, debut, with media outlets such as ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...

'' booking interviews.

Non-fiction books

King has published ten books, most with a focus on historical and adventure narratives. Many of King's works focus on sea adventure and maritime history, and he is past series editor for the ''Heart of Oak Sea Classics''. In 1995 King co-authored ''A Sea of Words'' with naval historian John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes, and two years later he again worked with Hattendorf to edit and publish ''Every Man Will Do His Duty.'' Both are companion books to Patrick O'Brian's '' Aubrey-Maturin series'' of novels. In 2000 he also wrote a historically significant but

unauthorized biography An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographi ...

of famed author Patrick O'Brian, which was published just three months after O'Brian's death. This book, ''Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed'', was named a book of the year by ''

'', and King appeared in a BBC documentary about O'Brian, as well as on ABC World News Tonight and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial i ...

. For his 2004 non-fiction book, '' Skeletons on the Zahara'', he traveled more than 100 miles across the western

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

on foot and by camel in order to experience a similar journey to Captain James Riley. During research for '' Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival'' he spent July 2009 in China's

Sichuan province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, trekking eight days through treacherous highland bogs and hiking up the Dagushan Mountain on the

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an border. As with Africa, his goal was to retrace his historical protagonists' dangerous journey, in this case the 30 women who walked 4,000 miles in the Communists'

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...

with

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

in 1934.

Community work

In the early 2000s, Dean was part of a group of Richmond writer friends, including founder and best-selling novelist David L. Robbins, to create the

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

James River Writers, which promotes and encourages local authors. He is past co-chair and advisory board member. King also helped establish the James River Writers Conference, which is held annually at the Richmond

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

. King is also frequently asked to give talks to schools and community groups. He serves on the boards of the Library of Virginia Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). He is a founder and co-chair of the Virginia Literary Festival (VLF), a week-long, multi-organizational celebration of reading and authors in Richmond.

Personal life

King is a cancer survivor and avid hiker. He currently lives in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia with his wife Jessica and their four daughters: Hazel, Grace, Willa, and Nora.

Published works

As contributing editor

* ''The Penny Pincher's Almanac Handbook for Modern Frugality'' (1992) - edited by King and the editors of ''The Penny Pincher's Almanac'' * ''Every Man Will Do His Duty: An Anthology of Firsthand Accounts From the Age of Nelson'' (1997) - edited by King with naval historian John B. Hattendorf * ''Cancer Combat: Cancer Survivors Share Their Guerrilla Tactics to Help you Win the Fight of Your Life'' (1998) - edited by Dean King, Jessica King & Jonathan Pearlroth

As author

* ''A Sea of Words: a Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O'Brian's Seafaring Tales'' (1995) - co-authored by John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes * ''Paper Clips to Printers: the Cost-cutting Sourcebook for Your Home Office'' (1996) - co-authored with Jessica King * ''Patrick O'Brian: a Life Revealed'' (2000) * ''Harbors and High Seas: an Atlas and Geographical Guide to the Complete Aubrey-Maturin Novels of Patrick O'Brian'' (2000) - co-authored with John B. Hattendorf * '' Skeletons on the Zahara: a True Story of Survival'' (2004) * '' Unbound: a True Story of War, Love, and Survival'' (2010) * ''The Feud: The Hatfields and McCoys: The True Story'' (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Dean 1962 births University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American military writers American male non-fiction writers New York University alumni Historians of the United States Living people American maritime historians American naval historians Writers from Richmond, Virginia St. Christopher's School (Richmond, Virginia) alumni Historians from Virginia

Early life and education

Writing career

Magazines

Non-fiction books

Community work

Personal life

Published works

As contributing editor

As author

References

Further reading

External links