Gerald Early

Biography

Gerald Lyn Early is an American essayist and American culture critic, appearing and serving as a consultant on Ken Burns' documentary films Baseball, Jazz, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, The War, and Muhammad Ali. Currently, Early is the Merle Kling Professor of Modern letters, of English, African studies, African-American studies, American culture studies, and Director, Center for Joint Projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a regular commentator on National Public Radio's Fresh Air, and his essays have appeared in numerous editions of Best American Essays series. He writes on topics as diverse as American literature, the Korean War, African-American culture, Afro-American autobiography, non-fiction prose, baseball, jazz, prizefighting, Motown, Miles Davis, Muhammad Ali and Sammy Davis Jr.

Known For

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

as Self - Writer

Baseball

as Self

Dean Martin: King of Cool

as Self

Jackie Robinson

as Self

Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed

as Self

Baseball: The Tenth Inning

as Self

The Journey of the African-American Athlete

as Self - Writer / Historian

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

as Self - writer