Dan Gutman (born October 19, 1955) is an American writer, primarily of children's fiction.
His works include the '' Baseball Card Adventures'' children's book series that began with '' Honus & Me'', and the '' My Weird School'' series.
Early life and education
Gutman was born in New York City, moving with his family a year later to
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Vailsburg High School in Newark, Gutman graduated from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
with a degree in psychology in 1977. He began a graduate program in psychology, but dropped out and moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1980 to pursue a writing career.
Career
After moving to New York City, Gutman worked as a magazine editor and columnist. He became the first employee of ''Video Game Player'' (later ''Computer Games'') in 1982. He said, "I started a magazine about video games and suddenly I was an expert in video games. I started writing about them and computers. All for grownups. It took me a long time to realize that writing for grownups was not my thing. It took me a long time to realize that what I was good at was writing for kids." His column appeared regularly in various computer-related magazines, such as ''Genie'' Livewire.
Works
Gutman has written over 70 books in the '' My Weird School'' series illustrated by
Jim Paillot
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim' ...
, plus related series including ''My Weird School Daze'' and ''My Weirder School''. He has also written the ''Million Dollar'' series, featuring children who get a chance to win a million dollars in various sporting events; the ''Genius Files'' series; ''Tales from the Sandlot'', a series of fantasy sports stories; and the ''Funny Boy'' series about an alien boy exiled to Earth. There have also been two about Judson Moon, who became President of the United States at 12; two about Qwerty Stevens and his time machine; and two about children who use a machine to do their homework. His standalone novels include ''They Came from Center Field'', about extraterrestrials who want to learn baseball, ''Johnny Hangtime'', about a young movie stuntman, and ''Race for the Sky'', a historical novel in diary form about the Wright brothers.
Gutman's '' Baseball Card Adventures'' series, illustrated by Steve Chorney, revolves around a child named Joe Stoshack who travels back in time to meet baseball legends. The first work is based on the premise of his finding a
Honus Wagner
Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...
T206
T206 is a cigarette card, tobacco card set issued from 1909 to 1911 in cigarette pack, cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands owned by the American Tobacco Company. It is a landmark set in the history of baseball card collect ...
baseball card in the attic of his neighbor. Further books in the series feature
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
,
Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
,
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...
,
Dorothy Maguire
Dorothy Maguire (November 21, 1918 – August 2, 1981) was a catcher and outfielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Maguire batted and threw right-handed. She also played under the name of Doroth ...
,
Abner Doubleday
Abner Doubleday (June 26, 1819 – January 26, 1893) was a career United States Army officer and Union major general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pi ...
,
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...
,
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
,
Ray Chapman
Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player. He spent his entire career as a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians.
Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitcher Carl Mays and died ...
,
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...
,
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
, and
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...
. The original story, ''Honus & Me'', was made into the
Turner Network Television
TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel
A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is dist ...
TV-movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''The Winning Season'', starring
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
and
Kristin Davis
Kristin Landen Davis (also listed as Kristin Lee Davis; born February 23, 1965) is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO romantic comedy series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004). She ...
.
Gutman's 1996 novel ''The Kid Who Ran for President'' was compared to the
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's
2016 presidential campaign
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kir ...
by comedian
John Oliver
John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...
during an August 2016 segment of the show ''
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' (often abridged as ''Last Week Tonight'') is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered in April 2014 on HBO. ''Last Wee ...
''. As a result, the book jumped in sales.
Gutman wrote The Genius Files series. The 5-book series followed twins Coke and
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi was ...
(Pep) McDonald on a cross-country road trip to their aunt's wedding in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
In book 3, ''You Only Die Twice'', the family's RV explodes and for the remainder of the series the family drives in a
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
.
Personal life
Gutman met his future wife, Nina Wallace, an illustrator, when she did freelance work for ''Computer Games''. They married in 1983. They have lived in
Haddonfield, New Jersey
:''Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.''
Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593,
, and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and have two children, Sam and Emma.
Selected bibliography
''Flashback Four'' series (2016-2019)
*"The Lincoln Project" (2016)
*"The Titanic Mission" (2017)
*"The Pompeii Disaster" (2018)
*"The Hamilton-Burr Duel" (2019)
''The Kid'' (1996-1999)
*''The Kid Who Ran for President'' (1996)
*''The Kid Who Became President'' (1999)
'' Baseball Card Adventures'' (1997–2015)
*''
Honus and Me
''Honus & Me'' is a children's novel by Dan Gutman, published in 1997, and the first in the '' Baseball Card Adventures'' series. It was rejected by many publishers before HarperCollins finally accepted. The made-for-television movie ''The Winnin ...
'' (1997)
''Million Dollar'' (1997-2006)
*'' The Million Dollar Shot'' (1997)
*'' The Million Dollar Kick'' (2001)
*'' The Million Dollar Goal'' (2003)
*''The Million Dollar Strike'' (2004)
*'' The Million Dollar Putt'' (2006)
'' My Weird School'' (2001-2008)
''My Weird School Daze'' (2008-2011)
''My Weirder School'' (2011-2014)
''My Weird School Special'' (2013–present)
''My Weirdest School'' (2015-2018)
''My Weird School: I Can Read'' (2016-2018)
''My Weird School Fast Facts'' (2016-2019)
''My Weirder-est School'' (2019–present)
Qwerty Stevens books (2002-2005)
*''The Edison Mystery'' (2002)
*''Stuck in Time with Benjamin Franklin'' (2005)
The Genius Files (2011-2015)
* ''The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable''
* ''The Genius Files: Never Say Genius''
* ''The Genius Files: You Only Die Twice''
* ''The Genius Files: From Texas with Love''
* ''The Genius Files: License to Thrill''