Amy Hill Hearth, Journalist & Author

Amy Hill Hearth is a New York Times bestselling author and a Peabody Award-winning writer who specializes in oral histories and biographies, especially of women. Her first book, HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS, tells the story of two centenarian sisters living in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. The book was an expansion of an article written for The New York Times by Ms. Hearth, who had heard about the reclusive sisters, sought them out, and persuaded them to be interviewed, first for the newspaper story and then for the book.

HAVING OUR SAY, published in 1993, was a New York Times Bestseller for a total of 105 weeks in hardcover and paperback. The book was later adapted to the Broadway stage by the playwright Emily Mann, and for an award-winning television film.

Ms. Hearth has since written six more books, including "STRONG MEDICINE" SPEAKS: A NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER HAS HER SAY, an oral history of an 85-year-old Native American tribal matriarch (Atria/​Simon & Schuster, 2008.)

Also in 2008, Ms. Hearth was co-author of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's first book, KNOW YOUR POWER: A MESSAGE TO AMERICA'S DAUGHTERS, published by Doubleday.

Ms. Hearth's awards & honors include the following:

GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY AWARD for "excellence in television broadcasting," for her work on the film adaptation of HAVING OUR SAY (1999)

An AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION “Notable Book of the Year” (1994)

AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION “ABBY Honor Book” (1994)

CHRISTOPHER AWARD for Literature (1993)

NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINATION for Literature (1993)

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S “Best Books for Young Adults” in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 2001.

GWEN AND C. DALE WHITE AWARD in 1995, a national award from the United Methodist Church, “for introducing the Delany Sisters to a world audience.”

The Broadway play adaptation of HAVING OUR SAY received three TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS, including Best Play, 1995. (Ms. Hearth was the Artistic Consultant.)

The television film adaptation of HAVING OUR SAY won a CHRISTOPHER AWARD for Television and an NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINATION for Television, 1999. (Ms. Hearth was the Artistic Consultant.)