Brian Jay Jones (born August 1, 1967) is an American biographer, primarily of American pop culture icons. He is a former president of Biographers International Organization.

Biography

Born in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

, Jones was raised primarily in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. He attended Eldorado High School and graduated from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, where he earned a degree in English in 1989. For nearly a decade, Jones served as a

Legislative Assistant A legislative assistant (LA), legislative analyst, legislative research assistant, or legislative associate, is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer in a semi-political partisan capacity, in a non-partisan capacity at a th ...

and speechwriter in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, working for U.S. Senators Pete V. Domenici and James M. Jeffords. He specialized in policy matters relating to education, civil rights, and welfare reform, and served as staff member on the United States Senate Health Subcommittee on Children and Families. Jones has also been an Associate State Superintendent for Education for the State of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and has served as an advisor to several locally elected officials in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Career

In 2008, Jones published ''

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

: An American Original'', a project he spent seven years writing and researching. As one of the first biographies of the American author and statesman in eight decades, ''Washington Irving'' was praised by the Associated Press as "authoritative" and "charming" by the ''New York Times''. In 2010, Jones was awarded the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence from the St. Nicholas Society of New York. Jones has been an active member of Biographers International Organization (BIO), a non-profit organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, since its inception in 2009. In 2012, he was elected vice president of the organization, where he played a key role in creating BIO's Plutarch Award. In 2014, he was elected to a two-year term as BIO's president. In September 2013, Jones published ''Jim Henson: The Biography'', the first comprehensive biography of Muppet creator

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

. Hailed as "masterful" by

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

, ''Jim Henson'' was a

New York Times bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

, and received the 2013 Goodreads Choice Award for Best History & Biography, as well as being selected by CNN viewers as a "Favorite Book of 2013.". Henson's longtime associate

Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...

publicly praised the book, saying, "Brian Jay Jones has captured the layers of Jim’s genius and humanity, as well as the flaws that made Jim, like all of us, so delightfully imperfect. Jim needed this book to be written," while lifelong Muppet fan

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...

called it "an absolute must-read!" Named a "Book of the Year" by Bookpage, it was also shortlisted for the Plutarch Award for the best biography of 2013. December 2016 saw the publication of ''George Lucas: A Life'', a full-length, comprehensive biography of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' creator

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

. Lauded by the ''Washington Post'' as "admirably comprehensive", ''George Lucas'' was hailed by ''Kirkus'' as a "sweeping, perceptive biography," and was named one of the Best Books of 2016. In May 2019, Dutton published Jones' biography of children's author Dr. Seuss, ''Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination''. The book was praised by NPR as "nuanced, profoundly human, and painstakingly researched," and was long-listed for the

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction __NOTOC__ The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are named in honor of ni ...

. A self-proclaimed "pop culture junkie", Jones has discussed at length his particular affection for the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and comic books, especially the character

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

and the writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

., ''The Annual'', September 23, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2015. Jones has made multiple appearances on ''

The George Lucas Talk Show ''The George Lucas Talk Show'' is an improvised talk show in New York City hosted by comedian Connor Ratliff, who appears as George Lucas, the creator of ''Star Wars'', and he interviews real guests as themselves in a panel format. He is jo ...

'' marathon fundraisers, including: ''The George Lucas Talk Show All Day Star Wars Movie Watch Along, LucasLynch (On The Air/ Radioland Murders'' marathon''),'' and ''The George Lucas Holiday Special.''

Bibliography

* ''Washington Irving: An American Original'' (Arcade, 2008) * ''Jim Henson: The Biography'' (Ballantine, 2013) * ''George Lucas: A Life'' (Little, Brown, 2016) * ''Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination'' (Dutton, 2019)

References

External links

Official website for Brian Jay Jones

Brian Jay Jones on Twitter

Biographers International Organization

Brian Jay Jones on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''

Appearance on ''Tavis Smiley''

Jones interviewed by Biographile, "The Making of the Muppets" and "Henson's Outsize Influence"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Brian Jay Living people 1967 births American biographers American male biographers University of New Mexico alumni Eldorado High School alumni