Julius Thompson is an American novelist best known for a novel trilogy which includes ''A Brownstone in Brooklyn'', ''Philly Style and Philly Profile'', and ''The Ghost of Atlanta''. He was a teacher at

Redan High School Redan High School is a public secondary school of the DeKalb County School District located in Redan, Georgia. Redan was established in 1976 by the DeKalb County School District. The school's mascot is the Raider. Both Redan High School and it ...

and an adjunct professor at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Background

Thompson was born in

Statham, Georgia Statham (; ) is a city in Barrow County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,408 at the 2010 census, and 2,813 in 2020. History The community was named after Charles Statham, a University of Georgia official. Geography Statham is locat ...

. He later moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He attended Bushwick High School. After high school, Thompson attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

and received his Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating from CCNY, Thompson became a full-time sportswriter with ''

The Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' (or ''The Bulletin'' as it was commonly known) was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was ...

''. He worked for the newspaper from 1971 to 1982. After leaving the ''Philadelphia Bulletin'', Thompson moved to Metro Atlanta where he currently resides. He thought British Literature, American Literature, and Creative Writing courses at

as well as more Writing courses at

during the evening.

The trilogy

Thompson published the first book of his trilogy, ''A Brownstone in Brooklyn'', in 2001. ''Philly Style and Philly Profile'' was published in 2007, and ''The Ghost of Atlanta'' was published in 2009. The trilogy portrays the journey of Andy Michael Pilgrim through the sixties in Brooklyn, the seventies in Philadelphia, and the eighties in Atlanta. During his thirty year journey Andy discovers challenges that were faced by African Americans in the twentieth century.

Accomplishments

In 1977 Thompson won the Associated Press Sports Editors Award, a national sports writing award given for the third-best sports story written during the year. Thompson is also on a panel of authors at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and the Gwinnett County Library System. Thompson signed copies of ''A Brownstone In Brooklyn'' and ''Philly Style & Philly Style'' at the prestigious New York Is Book Country Festival in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the

National Black Arts Festival The National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) is an organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1987. It was originally a one-week long summer festival which was held biennially starting in 1998. It was started after the Fulton County Arts Counc ...

, the AJC-Decatur Book Festival in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur () is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

, the Gwinnett Reading Festival in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. It was incorporated on December 15, 1821. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

and at the Miami Book Fair International in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He has had book signings in the following book stores:

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

, Chapter 11,

Books-A-Million Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, manga, collectibles, toys, technology, a ...

and many others. Thompson was one of the speakers at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Creative Arts Fair in

. Thompson's third novel, Ghost of Atlanta, won the 2011 National Gold Medal for General Fiction presented by Reader's Favorite. Mr. Thompson has written his fourth novel, Phantoms of Rockwood, which is a story about four players on a high school basketball team being taken over and assisted by four phantoms (four deceased star players for that team). It has been published under Amazon Create Space label.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Julius Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male novelists Bushwick High School alumni City College of New York alumni People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn People from Barrow County, Georgia Novelists from New York City Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportswriters from New York (state) Sportswriters from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American sportswriters African-American novelists Emory University faculty