Daniel James Brown (born 1951) is an American author of narrative nonfiction books.

Biography

Brown was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. He grew up in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. He attended Diablo Valley College in

Pleasant Hill, California Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 34,613 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1961. Pleasant Hill is the home of College Park H ...

, and earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in English at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Brown taught writing at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

and Stanford University before becoming a technical writer and editor. He now writes narrative nonfiction full-time.

Career

Brown's debut book, ''Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894'' (2006), traces the personal stories and social, economic, and environmental causes of the

Great Hinckley Fire __NOTOC__ The Great Hinckley Fire was a conflagration in the pine forests of the U.S. state of Minnesota in September 1894, which burned an area of at least (perhaps more than ), including the town of Hinckley. The official death count was 418; ...

of September 1, 1894, which burned an area of up to 250,000 acres (1,000 km²; 390 sq mi), including the town of

Hinckley, Minnesota Hinckley is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, located at the junction of Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highway 48. The population was 1,800 at the 2010 census. Hinckley's name in the Ojibwe language is ''Gaa-zhiigwanaabikoka ...

. The fire killed hundreds, including Brown's great-grandfather. Brown's second book, ''The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride'' (2009), traces the footsteps of Sarah Graves, a young bride who left her home in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

in the spring of 1846, bound for

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Sarah was one of a handful of the ill-fated

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...

members who attempted to hike out of the Sierra Nevada to save herself and her family. Brown's third book, '' The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics'' (2013), celebrates the 1936 U.S. men's Olympic eight-oar rowing team—nine working-class boys rowing for the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. It is also the story of one young man in particular, Joe Rantz. MGM and George Clooney's production company have purchased the rights to adapt the book for a feature film, to be directed by George Clooney. Brown's fourth book, ''Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II'' (2021), covers the World War II patriotism and courage of the

442nd Regimental Combat Team The 442nd Infantry Regiment ( ja, 第442歩兵連隊) was an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment is best known as the most decorated in U.S. military history and as a fighting unit composed almost entirely of second-gene ...

, a special Japanese American Army unit that overcame brutal odds in Europe; their families, incarcerated behind barbed wire in the American West due to the American internment policy; and a young man who refused to surrender his constitutional rights, even if it meant imprisonment.

Awards and recognition

''Under a Flaming Sky, The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894'' (2006) * 2006 INDIE NEXT NOTABLE Selection by the American Bookseller's Association * Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers, Summer 2006 * Notable Books of 2006 by Booklist magazine * Finalist for the 2007 Washington State Book Award ''The Indifferent Stars Above, The Harrowing Sage of a Donner Party Bride'' (2009) * 2009 INDIE NEXT NOTABLE Selection (June) by the American Bookseller's Association * New York Times Sunday Book Review Editor's Choice (May 10, 2009) * Finalist for 2010 Washington State Book Award ''The Boys in the Boat, Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics'' (2013) * Was a finalist of 2014

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing The William Saroyan International Prize for Writing is a biennial literary award for fiction and nonfiction in the spirit of William Saroyan by emerging writers. It was established by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation ...

in non-fiction category"William Saroyan International Prize for Writing"
accessed 12 January 2015. * Shortlist for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2013 * Notable Books Online 2014 Notable Books * Indie Next List for July 2013 * 2014 Indies Choice/Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year (American Booksellers Association) * 2014 Washington State Book Award for Nonfiction * 2014 Association des Ecrivains Sportifs, Prix Etranger Sport & Littérature * 2015 One Maryland One Book

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Daniel James 1951 births Living people 21st-century American non-fiction writers San Jose State University faculty Stanford University faculty Writers from Berkeley, California