Four BIO members have new biographies out in December: 

• James M. Bradley, Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician (Oxford University Press)
• Mark L. Clifford, The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic (Free Press)
• James A. Grymes and Veronika Kusz, The Last Romantic In His Own Words: Ernst von Dohnányi Selected Writings and Interviews (Oxford University Press)
• Patrick Parr, Malcolm Before X (University of Massachusetts Press)

Kathleen Spaltro has gotten a new book deal. Her next biography, Ethel Barrymore: Shy Empress of the Footlights, will be published by the University of Kentucky Press. 

The December interviews of BIO Podcast are as follows:

• December 6, Pamela D. Toler, author of The Dragon From Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany (Beacon Press, 2024), interviewed by Sonja Williams 
• December 13, Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Knopf, 2005), interviewed by John A. Farrell 
• December 20, Max Boot, author of Reagan: His Life and Legend (Liveright, 2024), interviewed by John A. Farrell  

Jonathan Eig gave a lecture on December 10 as part of the Henry Ward Beecher Lecture Series at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. 

David Greenberg was interviewed about his biography, John Lewis: A Life (Simon & Schuster, 2024), by Baptist News. You can read the interview here. 

Nigel Hamilton shared six books that he finds inspirational, which he thinks will benefit biographers, in The Week. See the list here. 

Arthur Hoyle reviewed The Use of Photography by Annie Ernaux (Seven Stories Press, 2024) for The New York Journal of Books. You can read the review here. 

Carol Kino wishes to share this update with the membership: “I’m a new-ish member. Before I joined, my first book, Double Click: Twin Photographers in the Golden Age of Magazines, which was released by Scribner last March, was highlighted in your January newsletter. The paperback [edition] will be released [on] March 11, 2025. I received an NYPL Cullman Fellowship for the research and writing [of this book] in 2019–2020.”

Lisa Napoli wishes to share this update with the membership: 

At the Miami Book Fair, I was asked to serve as interlocutor of the “Rock Bottom Remainders,” a group of best-selling authors who for 32 years have played music (badly) for literacy charities. 

On stage: Amy Tan, Mary Karr, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Mitch Albom, Scott Turow, Dave Barry, and Ridley Pearson. Also, Alan Zweibel, Sam Barry, and Ted Habte-Gabr—my longtime partner and manager of the band (which is how I got mixed up with this bunch).

I love conducting live interviews like this, but wrangling this group and making sure everyone got a word in edgewise . . . was a particular challenge!

View a photo of the Rock Bottom Remainders here.

Steve Paul reviewed the Bob Dylan biopic,  A Complete Unknown, for KC Studio. Read the review here.

Carl Rollyson was interviewed about Jill Craigie by Karen Christensen for her Substack, “The Way We Live Now.” Read the post here. 

Elizabeth Schott gave a presentation at the 2024 Weaving History Conference on her subject, Dorothy Wright Liebes. Further information is available here.