Gerald Early is the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in the English Department at Washington University in St. Louis where he has taught since 1982. He graduated cum laude with the Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Master's and Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Cornell University.

Early is the author of several books including "Tuxedo Junction: Essays on American Culture"; "Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood"; "One Nation Under a Groove: Motown and American Culture" and "The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture," which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism in 1994. His essays have appeared in publications such as "Harper's", "Civilization", "The New Republic", "The Nation", "The Antioch Review", "The Kenyon Review" and "The Black Scholar." They have also been included in several collections of the Best American Essays series, including Best American Essays of the Century. He has also edited several books including "My Soul's High Song: The Collected Works of Countee Cullen"; "Voice of the Harlem Renaissance"; "Lure and Loathing: Essays on Race, Identity, and the Ambivalence of Assimilation"; "Ain't But A Place: An Anthology of Writings About St. Louis by African American Writers"; "Body Language: Writers on Sports", and, most recently, "Miles Davis and American Culture" which was done in conjunction with a major exhibit mounted by the Missouri History Museum on the life and career of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. His latest book, "The Sammy Davis, Jr. Reader" will be out this fall from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Early has also served as a consultant for two Ken Burns documentaries: "Baseball" and "Jazz" (and contributed essays to the companion books for both films) and he has been a regular contributor for many years to the "Hungry Mind Review", now called the "Ruminator Review." He is a contributing editor for "US News and World Report."

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