William Gilkerson facts for kids

William Gilkerson (born July 25, 1936 – died November 29, 2015) was a talented writer, editor, and artist from America and Canada. From the 1960s to the 2000s, he wrote more than ten books. One of his most famous books, Pirate's Passage, won the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature in 2006. Later, his 2010 book A Thousand Years of Pirates was nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Norma Fleck Award. Besides writing, Gilkerson worked as an editor for St. Louis Magazine in 1964. He also held several jobs at the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper from 1964 to 1970. As an artist, his paintings were shown in museums, including the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in 1987 and the Independence Seaport Museum in 1998.

Early Life and Education

William Gilkerson was born on July 25, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois. He mostly grew up in the Midwestern United States. As a teenager, he served in the United States Marine Corps. After that, in the early 1960s, Gilkerson studied art at Washington University.

Career Highlights

Gilkerson started his writing journey by publishing Gilkerson on War in 1964. His second book, The Scrimshander, came out in 1975. Between these books, he worked as an editor for St. Louis Magazine in 1964. He also had different roles at the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper from 1964 to 1970.

Gilkerson began writing books again in 1981. He published seven more works during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000s, he started writing a book about pirate history called Pirate's Passage. Even though he wrote it for adults, his publisher decided to release it as a children's book in 2006.

After Pirate's Passage was published, there were talks in 2006 about making it into a movie. In 2013, it was announced that actor Donald Sutherland would create a TV movie based on the book. This television movie first aired on CBC Television in 2015.

Outside of writing, Gilkerson was also a talented artist. He worked in Nova Scotia from 1987 until 2015. He was known for his watercolor paintings. Some of his works about John Paul Jones were shown at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in 1987. In 1998, more than forty of his paintings were displayed at the Independence Seaport Museum.

Awards and Recognition

William Gilkerson received the 2006 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature for his book Pirate's Passage. In 2010, his book A Thousand Years of Pirates was nominated for two other important awards: the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and the Norma Fleck Award.

Personal Life

William Gilkerson passed away on November 29, 2015, in Martin's River, Nova Scotia. He was married and had three children.