Sheryl Teresa James (born October 7, 1951) is a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning journalist and author. She won the

Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1979 for a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high liter ...

in 1991 for a series she wrote in the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' about a mother who deserted her baby''.'' Her reporting has also been in the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

,'' the ''

Greensboro News and Record The ''News & Record'' is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensbo ...

,'' and ''City Magazine'' in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

''.''

Early life

James was born on October 7, 1951 to Reese and Dava James in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. After growing up in the area, she attended

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, where she received a B.S. in English in 1973.

Journalism career

In 1979, James got her first job in journalism at ''City Magazine'' in Lansing, Michigan.'''' She worked there as a staff writer and editor for three years, before moving to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

after being hired by the ''Greensboro News and Record'' in 1982. She went on to join the ''St. Petersburg Times'' as a feature writer in 1986. During her time in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, James also worked for the

Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netwo ...

as a consultant, and provided instruction for high school newspapers in the area. James was the recipient of the

1991 Pulitzer Prize The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1991. The year was significant because not only were awards given for all categories, but two separate awards were given for International Reporting. Journalism awards *Public Service: **''Des Moines Re ...

for Feature Writing for her series "A Gift Abandoned," which the Pulitzer board called "a compelling series about a mother who abandoned her newborn child and how it affected her life and those of others." The following year, James was a finalist in the same category for her series "Life From Death," which was described by the Pulitzer board as a "gripping account of the effort to transplant the organs of a dead boy and turn the tragedy of his death into a gift of life for others." James returned to Michigan in 1991 to work as a staff writer for the ''Detroit Free Press,'' where she remained for over a decade. Since 1999, James has written two books about the history of Michigan, which range in subject matter from a biography of local artist

Gwen Frostic Gwen Frostic (April 26, 1906 – April 25, 2001) born as Sara Gwendolen Frostic, was an American artist, entrepreneur, author, and Michigan Women's Hall of Fame inductee. A lifelong resident of Michigan, Frostic is known for her naturalist, Linoc ...

to the state's folk heritage. James currently works as a freelance journalist for publications including ''Michigan Today'' and the ''Toledo Blade''. She has also worked as a specialist in public relations for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

School of Information This list of information schools, sometimes abbreviated to iSchools, includes members of the iSchools organization. iSchools organization The iSchools organization reflects a consortium of over 100 information schools across the globe. iSchools pro ...

Personal life

James identifies as

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. She married her husband, Eric Vigmostad, in 1974. They have two children, named Teresa and Kelsey. As of 2017, James and Vigmostad lived in

Brighton, Michigan Brighton is a city in the Detroit metropolitan area in southeastern Livingston County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,444. Brighton forms part of the South Lyon-Howell-Brighton Urban Area. It is one of ...

Books

* ''The Life and Wisdom of Gwen Frostic'' (1999) * ''Michigan Legends: Folktales and Lore from the Great Lakes State'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Sheryl American newspaper journalists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners American women journalists Living people 1951 births 21st-century American women