Amy Hill Hearth

I am a New York Times bestselling author and a Peabody Award-winning writer whose specialties include oral histories and biographies of women.

My first novel, MISS DREAMSVILLE AND THE COLLIER COUNTY WOMEN'S LITERARY SOCIETY, will be published by Atria/​Simon & Schuster in November 2012.

As Contemporary Authors stated in a 2009 overview of my career, I saw my work gain national prominence with the publication of my first book, HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS, a collaboration with two centenarian sisters who were the daughters of a man born into slavery. The book was an expansion of an article I wrote for The New York Times on September 22, 1991.

In the summer of 1991, I first heard about the reclusive pair of sisters - Sadie and Bessie Delany - and I sought them out. The sisters weren't sure they wanted to be interviewed for my newspaper story or, later, for the book.

As I told The New York Times in an interview published April 2, 1995: "They didn't think they were important enough. I had to convince them and gave this little impromptu speech - that I thought it was very important that people from their generation be represented, especially black women who hadn't had much opportunity. I guess my enthusiasm rubbed off."

Published in 1993, HAVING OUR SAY was a blockbuster hit, landing on The New York Times Bestseller Lists for a total of 113 weeks. The book was published in seven languages and is a classroom favorite in high schools and colleges across America. Sometimes referred to as an autobiography or memoir, the book is perhaps more accurately categorized as a work of oral history.

In 1995, I was the production advisor on the theatrical adaptation of the book. The adaptation, also called "Having Our Say," was written by the playwright Emily Mann of the McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J. The play version premiered in Princeton and then moved to Broadway in April 1995. I served the same role - production advisor - in 1999, when the book was adapted again, this time for an award-winning television film. For the film, the producers Camille O. Cosby and Judith R. James added me as a character, portrayed by the actress Amy Madigan. For my work on the film production, I was among several key persons who received a George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.

Since the publication of HAVING OUR SAY, I have authored or co-authored six more books. I'm also an accomplished photographer, having taken my own photos, including the cover picture, for my 2008 book, "STRONG MEDICINE" SPEAKS, the story of a woman elder of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians.

I began my career as a journalist. In 1982, I earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Tampa, where I was editor of the student newspaper. My first newspaper job was as a writer, reviewer, and editor at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass. In the early 1980s, I was a reporter at the Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal. Later, I became an independent journalist. Between 1989 and 1992, I wrote 85 bylined news stories or features for The New York Times.

A list of my credits is as follows:

BOOKS:

Delany, Sarah L. and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS. New York: Kodansha America, 1993.

Delany, Sarah L. and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. THE DELANY SISTERS BOOK OF EVERYDAY WISDOM. New York: Kodansha America, 1994.

Delany, Sarah L. with Amy Hill Hearth. ON MY OWN AT 107: REFLECTIONS ON LIFE WITHOUT BESSIE. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco/​Harper Collins, 1997. With watercolor illustrations by Brian M. Kotzky.

Hearth, Amy Hill. IN A WORLD GONE MAD: A HEROIC STORY OF LOVE, FAITH, AND SURVIVAL. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001.

Hearth, Amy Hill. THE DELANY SISTERS REACH HIGH. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004. Childrens biography of the Delany Sisters, with illustrations by Tim Ladwig.

Hearth, Amy Hill. 'STRONG MEDICINE' SPEAKS: A NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER HAS HER SAY: AN ORAL HISTORY. New York: Atria/​Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Pelosi, Nancy with Amy Hill Hearth. KNOW YOUR POWER: A MESSAGE TO AMERICA'S DAUGHTERS. New York: Doubleday, 2008.

BROADWAY CREDIT:

Hearth, Amy Hill. Production advisor, theatrical adaptation of Having Our Say, 1995.

FILM CREDIT:

Hearth, Amy Hill. Production advisor, telefilm adaptation of Having Our Say, 1999.

MAGAZINE, NEWSPAPER CREDITS include:

The New York Times: 85 bylined stories from January 22, 1989 to June 14, 1992.

"Bessie and Sadie: the Delany Sisters Relive a Century," Smithsonian magazine, October 1993.

American Heritage article on the Delany Sisters, October 1993.

"You Can Fool Mother Nature," essay, Publisher's Weekly magazine, Dec. 12, 2011.

LITERARY MAGAZINE:

"Searching for Abraham," Tampa Review, Volume 23; 2002.

WEB CREDITS include:

"Having Their Say: Strong Voices from the Marginalized Majority," NWSAction, the online magazine of the National Women's Studies Association, Fall 2007.

"You Only Need One," ASJA Monthly, newsletter of the American Society of Journalists & Authors, January 2003.

"'Strong Medicine' Speaks," Smithsonian.com, January 2008.