Jerry Leake

Jerry Leake is the author of ten books of fiction, thirteen books on rhythm and percussion, and four illustrated books. His fiction ranges across thrillers, dark fantasy and literary suspense—the Jack's Alive trilogy, the Twin Crossing duology, Lethal Injection, The Soul Searcher, Sand and Ceremony—and often draws on the places and people he knows firsthand. His illustrated books include the cartoon collections Far Fetched and The Stinking Adventures of Dogbreath, the sayings book View From the Bridge, and The Wacky Adventures of the Wide-Mouth Frog for younger readers.

He is a Professor of World Percussion at Berklee College of Music and a faculty member at the New England Conservatory, where he has taught for more than thirty years. His percussion texts on North Indian, South Indian, West African and Afro-Cuban rhythm are used by students and players worldwide. He has studied and performed in Ghana and India, is a founding member of Natraj and Club d'Elf, leads the world-rock fusion octet Cubist, and has long played with the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society. He presented his "Harmonic Time" method in a 2011 TED Talk.

He lives in Massachusetts.