Kate Buford

I've always been interested in so-called popular culture, especially movies and sports. With both my latest books, I deliberately set out to write a mainstream biography about an important -- and largely unexamined -- figure of the movies (Burt Lancaster) and sports (Jim Thorpe).

By and large books about people in these two areas of American life are treated as sub-genres, not as books on a par with biographies of politicians, inventors, explorers, authors, etc. I felt these two men had had such a significant impact on their respective spheres that their lives merited an in-depth approach. Quixotic? Yes. Satisfying? Oh, yes. I got to immerse myself in Hollywood fact and lore -- and to explore the early history of organized sports, an unexpectedly fascinating and important aspect of our culture. Where does our current fascination with football begin? Read about Thorpe to find out.

Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe was published in hardcover by Knopf in October 2010. It was a Featured Selection of both the Book of the Month Club and the History Book Club. In December the biography was named an Editors' Choice by the New York Times. It won the 2011 Larry Ritter Award from the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) for the best book about the Deadball Era. SEE my website www.katebuford.com for more terrific reviews. The paperback came out in March 2012 from the University of Nebraska's Bison Books.

On Thorpeblog (http://jimthorpeblog.blogspot.com/) I report on my journey of writing this biography--from why I chose Jim Thorpe as my subject and the process of researching and finishing the book to taking it on the road after publication... and anything else book-related that comes up.

I am also the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling biography, Burt Lancaster: An American Life, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2000. The book was an Editors' Choice and Best Book of 2000 for The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and other media. The paperback edition, published in 2001 by Da Capo Press, was named a "New and Notable Paperback" by The New York Times. U.K. hardcover and paperback editions were published by Aurum Press in London, as was a new paperback edition in 2008.

From 1994 to 1999 I was a commentator for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Since 2000 I have been an occasional commentator for "Marketplace," broadcast nationally by American Public Media, and for WMRA, the NPR affiliate in Charlottesville and western Virginia.

My articles have appeared in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, The New York Post, Film Comment, TV Guide, Bluegrass Unlimited and other publications. I have appeared on The Charlie Rose Show, ESPN's Reel Classics and Cold Pizza, PBS History Detectives, BBC Radio 4's Great Lives and other TV and radio programs. At the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York, I programmed and presented film series on Burt Lancaster, Michael Powell, Katharine Hepburn, War & Film and Horton Foote.

I enjoy wintering in New York and summering in the mountains of Virginia, where I play my Rockbridge guitar not as often as I should. Ditto for Ishta yoga.