Al Young facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Al Young
Young in 2018
Born	Albert James Young (1939-05-31)May 31, 1939 Ocean Springs, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	April 17, 2021(2021-04-17) (aged 81) Concord, California, U.S.
Other names	Earnest James Young
Education	University of Michigan
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley (BA)
Spouse(s)	Arline June Belch (m. 1963–2016; death)
Children	1
Awards	Poet Laureate of California (2005–2008)

Albert James Young (born May 31, 1939 – died April 17, 2021) was a talented American writer. He wrote poems, novels, essays, and movie scripts. He also taught at many universities. From 2005 to 2008, he was named the Poet Laureate of California. This is a special honor given to a poet by the state.

Al Young wrote many books, including novels, poetry collections, and memoirs (stories about his own life). His work appeared in famous magazines like The New York Times and Rolling Stone. His writings were also featured in important collections of African American literature.

Early Life

Al Young was born on May 31, 1939, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This town is on the Gulf Coast, near Biloxi. His grandparents had been sharecroppers, which means they farmed land owned by someone else and shared the crops.

He went to a school called "Kingston School for Colored." At that time, schools in the South were separated by race. He finished high school in 1957 at Central High School in Detroit.

From 1957 to 1960, Al Young attended the University of Michigan. There, he helped edit Generation, the campus literary magazine. He also met Janet Coleman, who he later worked with on a book.

In 1961, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in California. He lived in Berkeley and had many different jobs. He worked as a folksinger, a lab assistant, a DJ, and even a medical photographer. In 1969, he graduated with honors from University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) with a degree in Spanish.

Career and Teaching

Al Young loved to teach. He taught poetry, fiction writing, and American literature at many universities. Some of these included UC Berkeley, University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of California, Davis. He also taught at Stanford University for many years, starting in 1969.

In the 1970s, he wrote movie scripts for famous actors. These included Joseph Strick, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor. He also wrote notes for George Benson's Breezin' music album in 1976.

In 2002, he became a special professor of creative writing at San José State University. He also taught in the Czech Republic and at other colleges like Davidson College and Appalachian State University. From 2003 to 2006, he helped teach at summer workshops for African-American poets. One of his students was the poet Persis Karim.

Honors and Awards

Al Young received many important awards for his writing. In 1974, he won a Guggenheim fellowship for his fiction. He also received a Fulbright fellowship, which helps people study or teach in other countries. He won two Puschart prizes and the PEN-USA Award. He also received several fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

He won the American Book Award twice. First, for his book Bodies and Soul: Musical Memoirs (1982). Then again for The Sound of Dreams Remembered: Poems 1990–2000 (2002).

In the 1980s and 1990s, he traveled around the world. He visited places like South Asia, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. He was a cultural ambassador for the United States, sharing American literature and culture. In 2001, he lectured in Kuwait and Bahrain. Later, he gave talks in Italy. His poems and stories have been translated into many languages, including Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.

On May 15, 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger named him the Poet Laureate of California. Governor Schwarzenegger praised him, saying he had "remarkable talent" and a "passion for the Arts." Muriel Johnson, a director at the California Arts Council, said, "Like jazz, Al Young is an original American voice."

In 2009, Whittier College gave him an honorary degree.

Family Life and Death

Al Young was married to Arline June Young from 1963 until she passed away in 2016. They had one child together. After living in Palo Alto for many years, he moved back to Berkeley in 2000. There, he continued to work as a freelance writer.

In February 2019, Al Young had a stroke. He passed away from problems related to the stroke on April 17, 2021, in Concord, California. He was 81 years old.

Published works

Novels

Collaborations

• Jazz Idiom: blueprints, stills, and frames: the jazz photography of Charles L. Robinson (2008)

Anthologies edited

• The Literature of California, Volume 1: Native American Beginnings to 1945 (2000)
• African American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology (1996)
• Yardbird Lives! (co-edited with Ishmael Reed, 1978)

Screenplays

• Sparkle (1972)
• A Piece of the Action (1977)
• Bustin' Loose (1981)