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Ask the Author: Jonathan Eig

“You got questions? Who knows, I might have answers.” Jonathan Eig

Answered Questions (8)

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Love your books, especially the one on Al Capone, which was a surprise to me. I took your class at Chautauqua a few years ago. Keep writing great books. (..?)
Jonathan Eig Thanks, Bonnie. So nice to heart from you. I'll definitely keep writing. Hope you'll do the same!
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When speaking without notes, was MLK swept up in oral formulaic, like Homer and the Beowulf poet? (See Lord & Perry, The Singer of Tales.) Paywalled critic Johanesson 10 years ago said. “Within the African‐American oral culture and folk‐preaching traditions, where language and ideas are viewed as communal resources to be shared and adapted, Martin Luther King's oratorical plagiarism may be seen as natural….”
Jonathan Eig MLK was certainly shaped by the tradition of sharing. He felt comfortable sharing or borrowing what he picked up from other preachers. I doubt that anyone would have complained had he limited that borrowing to church settings.
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I love the yankees! I'm a die heart yankees fan! Thank you for writing baseball books! I enjoy reading each one. I have read almost every single book by you :) What will you write next?
Jonathan Eig Hey, sorry I didn't see this question sooner. Thanks for reading all the books (even though only was a Yankee book)! I do hope to do another Yankee book one of these days. For now, I'm working on a biography of MLK. Definitely not a Yankee. I've also got a children's book called SOME PIGTAILS coming in the fall.
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There are so many "slightly different versions" of quotes attributed to Ali to be found. For the ones I can't find in your book, I'm wondering if you have a suggestion for where else to focus? I'm in the copyedit stage of a my middle grade novel (one of the characters has an Ali obsession). We're going back and forth on the best, most definitive guide to Ali's quotes.
Jonathan Eig Good question! I relied on primary sources as much as possible. Try newspapers.com, Proquest, and the Sports Illustrated archives for starters. Good luck!
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What is your favorite baseball team to write about, and did you have a favorite team to cheer for as a kid?
Jonathan Eig Yankees and Yankees!
p.s.: Yankees!
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Chicago is a rich resource for ideas. Are you currently writing about Chicago?
Jonathan Eig I'm writing about MLK--which means some strong Chicago chapters. Thanks for asking!
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will there be a another baseball book?
Jonathan Eig I hope so. I'm working now on the biography of Muhammad Ali, so I am getting back to sports. But I don't know what I'll do after Ali. As the athletes say, I'm going to take it one day at a time. Thanks for asking!
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Where are you from?
Jonathan Eig I was born in NY and I live in Chicago.
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Jonathan Eig
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