DOUGLAS BRINKLEY

'Douglas Brinkley' (born December 14, 1960) is an American author and professor of history at Rice University. He previously was a professor of history at Tulane University where he also served as director of the Theodore Roosevelt Center for American Civilization. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News, and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair.^[1] He joined Rice University and the James Baker Institute for Public Policy on July 1, 2007.^[2] He earned his Ph.D. at Georgetown University in 1989.
The late historian, Stephen E. Ambrose, once called Brinkley "the best of the new generation of American historians."^[3]
During the early 1990s, Brinkley taught American Arts and Politics out of Hofstra University aboard the Majic Bus, a roving, transcontinental classroom, from which emerged the book, ''The Majic Bus: an American Odyssey'', published in 1993. In 1993, he left Hofstra University to teach at the University of New Orleans and taught this class again, using a natural-gas bus. He also worked with Stephen Ambrose, then Director of the Eisenhower Center at the University of New Orleans. Upon Stephen Ambrose's death, Brinkley became Director of the Eisenhower Center for a short period, before going to Tulane.
Brinkley is the literary executor for his friend Hunter S. Thompson. He is also the editor of a three-volume collection of letters written by journalist-author Hunter S. Thompson:
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★ Volume 1: ''The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967''. Published April 7, 1998.
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★ Volume 2: ''Fear And Loathing In America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist''. Published December 13, 2000.
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★ Volume 3: ''The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings, and Missives from the Mountaintop, 1977-2005''. Schedule delayed until February, 2008.
As well, Brinkley is the authorized biographer for Beat generation author Jack Kerouac and is editing Kerouac's diaries for publication.
In January 2004 Brinkley released ''Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War'', about U.S. Senator John Kerry's military service and anti-war activism during the Vietnam War.

In January 2006, Brinkley and fellow historian, Julie M. Fenster, released ''Parish Priest'', a biography of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus.
In May 2006, Brinkley released ''The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast'', a record of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. The book won the 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He also appeared in Spike Lee's documentary about Hurricane Katrina, ''When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.''
Brinkley was once criticized as something of a media gadfly by ''Slate Magazine'' when they scrutinized his prolific and well-compensated presence in a range of media immediately following the death of his acquaintance John F. Kennedy, Jr., in the summer of 1999.^[4]
Brinkley lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.

Contents

References

External link

References

1. Brinkley's page @ HarperCollins Publishers
2. ''"Author, historian Douglas Brinkley to join Rice faculty"'' - By Franz Brotzen - Rice University - 05/17/2007
3. Brinkley @ New York State ''Writers'' Institute - University at Albany, SUNY - Albany.edu
4. ''"Douglas Brinkley: John Kennedy Jr.'s most prolific mourner"'' - By David Plotz - Slate - Posted Friday, July 23, 1999

External link

★ Douglas Brinkley Author Page on HarperCollins Website

★ Open letter to Brinkley on James Forrestal by David Martin.