This award-winning author of biographers for young readers talks about his writing career and his long-term service as a founding BIO board member. His most recent book, A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America From Ona Judge to Barack Obama, was published by Calkins Creek in August 2023. Shepard initiated and organized BIO’s exciting forthcoming regional conference, Telling the Stories of Black Lives through Biography. Scheduled for March 21-22, 2025, this conference will be held at Troy University in Montgomery, Alabama, and it will feature a host of speakers, panel discussions, museum tours, and receptions. Ray Anthony Shepard was interviewed by BIO member and podcast producer Jenny Skoog.