William McGuire “
Bill”
Bryson,
OBE,
FRS
(born December 8, 1951), is a best-selling American author of humorous
books on travel, as well as books on the English language and science.
Born in America, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life
before returning to the U.S. in 1995. In 2003 Bryson moved back to
Britain, living in the old rectory of
Wramplingham, Norfolk, and was appointed chancellor of
Durham University.
Bryson shot to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication of
Notes from a Small Island
(1995), an exploration of Britain, and its accompanying television
series. He received widespread recognition again with the publication of
A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003).
Early life
Bryson was born in
Des Moines, Iowa, the son of
William and Agnes Mary (née McGuire). His mother was of Irish descent.
[1] He has an older brother,
Michael and a sister, Mary Jane Elizabeth – in 2006 Bryson published
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines.
Bryson attended
Drake University
for two years before dropping out in 1972, deciding to instead backpack
around Europe for four months. He returned to Europe the following year
with a high-school friend, the pseudonymous Stephen Katz. Some of his
experiences from this trip were relived as flashbacks in
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, which documents a similar journey Bryson made 20 years later.
Move to Britain
Bryson first visited Britain in 1973 during a tour of Europe and
decided to stay after landing a job working in a psychiatric
hospital—the now defunct
Holloway Sanatorium in
Virginia Water,
Surrey.
He met a nurse there named Cynthia Billen, whom he married and they
moved to the United States in 1975 so that Bryson could complete his
college degree. In 1977 they settled in Britain, where they remained
until 1995. Eventually living in
North Yorkshire and mainly working as a
journalist, Bryson became chief copy editor of the business section of
The Times and then deputy national news editor of the business section of
The Independent. He left journalism in 1987, three years after the birth of his third child. Living in
Kirkby Malham, North Yorkshire, Bryson started writing independently and in 1990 their fourth child, Samuel, was born.
Although able to apply for
British citizenship, Bryson has declined a citizenship test, declaring himself “too cowardly” to take it.
[2]
Writings
In 1995 Bryson returned to the United States to live in
Hanover, New Hampshire, for some years. While there he wrote a
column
for a British newspaper for several years, reflecting on humorous
aspects of his repatriation in America. These columns were selected and
adapted to become his book
I’m a Stranger Here Myself, alternatively titled
Notes from a Big Country in Britain, Canada, and Australia. During his time in the United States, Bryson decided to walk the
Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz (a pseudonym), about which he wrote the book
A Walk in the Woods. In 2003 the Brysons and their four children returned to Britain and now live in Norfolk.
Also in 2003, in conjunction with
World Book Day, British voters chose Bryson’s book
Notes from a Small Island as that which best sums up British identity and the state of the nation.
[3] In the same year, he was appointed a Commissioner for
English Heritage.
In 2004 Bryson won the prestigious
Aventis Prize for best general science book with
A Short History of Nearly Everything.
[4]
This 500-page popular literature piece explores not only the histories
and current statuses of the sciences, but also reveals their humble and
often humorous beginnings. Although one “top scientist” is alleged to
have jokingly described the book as “annoyingly free of mistakes,”
[5] Bryson himself makes no such claim and a list of some reported errors in the book is available online.
[6] In 2005, the book won the EU
Descartes Prize for science communication.
[4]
Bryson has also written two popular works on the history of the English language—
Mother Tongue and
Made in America—and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage,
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (published in its first edition as
The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words in 1983).
Source Wikipedia
