Graham Salisbury comes from a 100-year line of newspapermen, all associated with Hawaii's
morning paper, the Honolulu Advertiser. Although a career as a newsman could have been
possible, Salisbury chose to imagine
rather than report. "I enjoy writing about
characters who might have been. To me, exploring fictional themes, situations, and lives is a
quietly exhilarating experience. There are times when completely unexpected happenings take place
as my fingertips walk the keyboard, things that make me laugh or get all choked up or even
amaze me."
Salisbury's drive to write about the emotional journey that kids must take to become adults in
a challenging and complicated world is evident throughout his work. Says the author: "I've thought
a lot about what my job is, or should be as an author of books for young readers. I don't write to
teach, preach, lecture, or criticize, but to explore. And if my stories show characters choosing
certain life options, and the possible consequences of having chosen those options, then I will have
done something worthwhile."
His books -- Eyes of the Emperor, Blue
Skin of the Sea, Under the
Blood-Red Sun, Shark Bait, Jungle Dogs, Lord of the Deep, Island Boyz
and his short stories, too -- have been celebrated widely with praise
and distinguished awards. Graham Salisbury, winner of the PEN/Norma
Klein Award, grew up on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii. Later, he
graduated from California State University, Northridge, and received
an MFA degree from Vermont College of Norwich University. In fact, he
was a member of the founding faculty of Vermont College's highly
successful
MFA
program in Writing for Children, now the Union
Institute & University.
Other important things to know about
this author: He worked as the
skipper of a glass-bottom boat, as a deckhand on a deep-sea charter
fishing boat, and as an Montessori elementary school teacher.
His
rock-and-roll band, The Millennium, had a number one hit in the
Philippines, which he composed. He once surfed with a shark, got stung
by a Portuguese man-of-war (several times!), and swam for his life
from a moray eel. Believe it or not, he didn't wear shoes until the
sixth grade and never saw snow until he was nineteen. Graham Salisbury
now lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.
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