I was born in Los Angeles and reared in a family of composers and writers. My grandfather, M.K. Jerome, was a Warner Brothers’ songwriter whose credits included Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and many more classic films. His songs “Some Sunday Morning” (from “San Antonio”) and “Sweet Dreams, Sweetheart” (from “Hollywood Canteen”) were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Song.
My uncle, Stuart Jerome, was a veteran television writer from the 1950s until his death in 1983. He wrote for “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “M Squad” and “The Fugitive.” This background had a profound effect on how I write history. I’m a storyteller who approaches great historical events cinematically, reconstructing through a dramatic narrative the lives of Americans forever changed by historical events.
Among my earlier works are the Allan Nevins Prize winning China Scapegoat: The Diplomatic Ordeal of John Carter Vincent (New Republic Books); Un-American Activities: The Trials of William Remington (Oxford University Press), selected by Alan Dershowitz for inclusion in his “Notable Trials” series. The Informant: The FBI, the Klu Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo (Yale university Press), optioned for a television mini-series in 2023; John Tyler: The American Presidency series (Times Books); Bending Toward Justice: the Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy (Basic Books), paperback edition, Duke University Press. Reviewed by The New Yorker, Washington Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, Reviews in American History, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, African American Review, Bill Moyers and Company. The Tunesmith: The Musical Journey of M.K.Jerome (BearManorMedia)
Visit my Books section to find out details on each one.
Gary May in an interview with Bill Moyers.