Name Yasmine Howell____________ Date February 13, 2019
Hour 1st
English 11 – American Literature
Author Biography Worksheet
Answer the following questions on this paper or by downloading this document from the network and typing your answers. Be sure to answer all parts of every question. Use the two column format to help you study for tests by covering up the right side and quizzing yourself with the questions on the left.
1. Author name
Walter Mosely
2. Place of birth
Los Angeles, California
3. Date of birth
January 15, 1952
4. Date of death (if applicable)
5. Place of death (if applicable)
6. Burial location (if mentioned)
7. Interesting facts about this author’s childhood (parents, siblings, people that influenced them, interests, etc.)
His parents are Ella and Leroy Mosley. His father influenced him to become an author. His instructor, Edna O’Brien, further influenced him to pursue a career in literature.
8. Place(s) where this author lived. Include dates and explain how each place influenced them.
In 1981 while working at Mobile Oil in New York City, he attended City College in Harlem where his instructor influenced him to pursue his writing career. He kept moving back and forth from Santa Cruz to Europe while in his “hippie” stage.
9. How did this author become inspired to write? (What events happened in their life to make them become a writer or to make them write they way they do/did, e.g., education, work experiences, historical events, family life, lost love, etc.)
He graduated from Goddard College with a Political Science degree in 1979, then enter a doctoral program but changed to computer programming as a career. When he was in New York City he met his ex-wife Joy Kellman but they divorced in 2001.
10. Where applicable, explain any obstacles this writer faced, such as character flaws, conflicts with other people or with society, prejudice, mental or physical illness, etc.
Mosley’s writings are from times where there was prejudice, money problems and times in South where his family is from.
11. How successful was this author during his/her lifetime? (Did they win awards, earn mon...
