Albert French (born 1943) is an American author and publisher whose works, mainly focusing on the rural life of

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, are known for their intensity and distinctive style, and have been translated into several languages.

Early life

French was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in 1943 and still lives there. He joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

in 1963. His experiences there are described in his book ''Patches of Fire''. After returning home, French worked as a photographer for the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

before publishing the Pittsburgh Preview for twelve years.

Books

* ''Billy'' (1995) * ''Patches of Fire'' (1996), * ''Holly'' (1996), * ''I Can't Wait on God'' (1999) * ''Cinder'' (2007). French's works ''Billy'', ''Holly'' and ''Cinder'' all describe rural African American life in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

while ''I Can't Wait on God'' is centered in Pittsburgh. His first novel, ''Billy'', was favorably reviewed by the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' and the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''Billy'' was adapted for the stage by David Barr and first performed by the Chicago Theatre Company in February 2007.Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones, April 2001 French was asked by the Royal Book Club to write a foreword for

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

References

External links

-Random House.com - http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0898/french/ African American Literature Book Club biography of Albert French- http://aalbc.com/authors/albert.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Albert 1943 births Living people American male writers