Donald Milton Clarke (born 1940) is an American writer on

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

Career

Clarke was born in 1940 and raised in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

. From 1959 through 1969, he worked at a car factory in Kenosha American Motors Corporation. In 1973, Clarke graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

with a Bachelor of Science in education with honors. He lived in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1973 to 1998, during which, from 1974 to 1979, he worked with Marshall Cavendish Publications. Beginning around 1998–1999, Clarke lived in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, for five years. He moved to

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas, Warren, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. A majority of the city is located in Polk County, a minority of the city is located in Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren and M ...

, in 2003, where he worked for a time on the music e-zines ''BluesWax'' and ''FolkWax''. He then moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2009, and in 2014, to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. Clarke was the author/editor of the ''Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (1989, 1998) which is now available free on his website (donaldclarkemusicbox.com). Clarke's other books include ''Wishing On The Moon: The Life and Times of Billie Holiday'' (1994), ''The Rise And Fall Of Popular Music'' (1995), and ''All Or Nothing At All: A Life Of Frank Sinatra'' (1997). The

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

biography was reprinted by Da Capo Press in 2000 under the title ''Billie Holiday: Wishing On The Moon''.

Selected work

Books * ; (hardback), (paperback). * ; * . * ; ; ; . Articles * (2nd ed; 2002); ; .

References

External links

* Schwartz, Steve (2000
(''The rise and Fall of Popular Music'')
* Schwartz, Steve (2001
''All or Nothing at All: A Life of Frank Sinatra)
1940 births Living people American music critics University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers about music American expatriates in the United Kingdom {{US-journalist-1940s-stub