Meet Sherman Alexie...

Sherman Alexie, author of our next book (a collection of short stories, actually), The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian who lives in Seattle, Washington. Born in 1966, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA a very impoverished community about 5 hours east of Seattle (very close to Idaho). He loves basketball and much of his writing brings in his love of sports.

When he began high school, he decided to attend a mostly-white school off the reservation, and was "the only Indian except the mascot." Recently he published his first work of young adult fiction, The True Diary of a Part-time Indian, which is about this time in his life. It's a great read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested! Our school library has a copy and I may even consider giving some extra credit to anyone who reads it and writes a short reflection. Let me know!

He received his B.A, from Washington State University. During college, he had a drinking problem (which is another recurring theme we will see in his writing), and so at 23, gave up drinking and has been sober ever since.

Sherman Alexie has two sons, Joseph, who is 12, and David, who is 8 years old. He has won many awards for his writing and has had his work made into at least three films, one of which we will watch in class (Smoke Signals).