James Hirsch

Hurricane is a New York Times bestseller and a bestseller in Canada and the United Kingdom. Praised for its gritty, balanced portrait of Carter, the book traces one man's odyssey from fierce despair to freedom and enlightenment. Hurricane is both a poignant chronicle of jailhouse redemption and a revealing history of one of the most dramatic and controversial episodes in the long saga of civil rights in the United States.

Hirsch is a former reporter for the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Twelve years as a reporter, he covered stories in Europe, Asia and throughout the United States. He wrote profiles on subjects ranging from Gregory Peck and Barbara Jordan to some of America's leading CEO's. He wrote numerous stories about race, social issues and "sub-cultures" in American life, such as rodeo cowboys, cruise lines, alternative comedy clubs and planned communities. Personal experiences in Hirsch's life, including his wedding, the death of his 100 year-old grandmother and his travel adventures have all been subjects of published essays.

Hirsch has appeared on ESPN, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, The Connection with Christopher Lydon plus numerous local television and radio stations.

Hirsch recently released a new book, Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy. This book is not just about one of the worst episodes of racial violence in American History, but also about a community's search for justice. It is published at a time when the issues of reparations and retroactive justice are in the forefront of the civil rights agenda, and when a spate of new books are examining America's painful racial history.

A native of St. Louis, Hirsch is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and he has a Master's degree in government from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin.