Gerald Early

Gerald Early

Gerald Lyn Early (born April 21, 1952) is an American essayist and American culture critic. He is currently the Merle Kling Professor of Modern letters, of English, African studies, African American studies, American culture studies, and Director, Center for Joint Projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

He also served as a consultant on Ken Burns' documentary films Baseball, Jazz, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, and The War. He is a regular commentator on National Public Radio's Fresh Air. His essays have appeared in numerous editions of Best American Essays series. He writes on topics as diverse as American literature, the Korean War, African American culture, Afro-American autobiography, non-fiction prose, baseball, jazz, prizefighting, Motown, Miles Davis, Muhammad Ali and Sammy Davis Jr.

Read more about Gerald Early:  Background and Education, Personal Life, Awards and Honors, Works, Editing Work

Famous quotes by gerald early:

    ‘Do you like being a parent—you know, being a father, having children and all?’ Linnet once asked me. ‘Yes,’ I said, after a moment. ‘It’s like dancing with a partner. It takes a lot of effort to do it well. But when it’s done well it’s a beautiful thing to see.’
    Gerald Early (20th century)

    The Miss America contest is ... the most perfectly rendered theater in our culture, for it so perfectly captures what we yearn for: a low-class ritual, a polished restatement of vulgarity, that wants to open the door to high-class respectability by way of plain middle-class anxiety and ambition.
    Gerald Early (b. 1952)