Bill Bryson


William McGuire Bryson is an American-British author of books on travel, the English language, science, and other non-fiction topics. Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the United States between 1995 and 2003, and holds dual American and British citizenships. He served as the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.
Bryson came to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication of Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain, and its accompanying television series. He received widespread recognition again with the publication of A Short History of Nearly Everything, a book widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science.

Early life

Bryson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Bill Bryson Sr., a sports journalist who worked for fifty years at the Des Moines Register, and Agnes Mary, the home furnishings editor at the same newspaper. His mother was of Irish descent. He had an older brother, Michael, and a sister, Mary Jane Elizabeth. In 2006, Bryson published The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines.
Bryson attended Drake University for two years before dropping out in 1972, deciding instead to backpack around Europe for four months. He returned to Europe the following year with a high school friend, Matt Angerer. Bryson wrote about some of his experiences from this trip in his book .

Move to the United Kingdom

Bryson first visited Britain in 1973 during his tour of Europe and decided to stay after landing a job working in a psychiatric hospital—the now-defunct Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey. He met a nurse there named Cynthia Billen, whom he married in 1975. They moved to Bryson's hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1975 so that Bryson could complete his college degree at Drake University. In 1977 they settled in Britain.
He worked as a journalist, first for the Bournemouth Evening Echo, eventually becoming chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent.
He has moved around the UK and lived in Virginia Water, Purewell, Burton, Kirkby Malham, and the Old Rectory in Wramplingham, Norfolk. He currently lives in rural Hampshire and maintains a small flat in South Kensington, London. From 1995 to 2003 he lived in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Although able to apply for British citizenship, Bryson said in 2010 that he had declined a citizenship test, declaring himself "too cowardly" to take it. However, in 2014, he said that he was preparing to take it and in the prologue to his 2015 book he describes doing so, in Eastleigh. His citizenship ceremony took place in Winchester and he now holds dual citizenship.

Writings

While living in the US in the 1990s Bryson wrote a column for a British newspaper for several years, reflecting on humorous aspects of his repatriation in the United States. These columns were selected and adapted to become his book I'm a Stranger Here Myself, alternatively titled Notes from a Big Country in Britain, Canada, and Australia. During his time in the United States, Bryson decided to walk the Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz, about which he wrote the book A Walk in the Woods. In the 2015 film adaptation of A Walk in the Woods, Bryson is portrayed by Academy Award winner Robert Redford and Katz is portrayed by Nick Nolte.
In 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, British voters chose Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island as that which best sums up British identity and the state of the nation. In the same year, he was appointed a Commissioner for English Heritage.
His popular science book, A Short History of Nearly Everything is 500 pages long and explores not only the histories and current statuses of the sciences, but also reveals their humble and often humorous beginnings. Although one "top scientist" is alleged to have jokingly described the book as "annoyingly free of mistakes", Bryson himself makes no such claim and a list of some reported errors in the book is available online.
In November 2006, Bryson interviewed the then British prime minister, Tony Blair, on the state of science and education.
Bryson has also written two popular works on the history of the English language—The Mother Tongue and Made in America—and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words.

Litigation

In 2012 Bryson sued his agent, Jed Mattes Inc., in New York County Supreme Court, claiming it had "failed to perform some of the most fundamental duties of an agent". The case was settled out of court, with part of the settlement being that Bryson may not discuss it.
In 2013 Bryson claimed copyright on an interview he had given nearly 20 years previously, after the interviewer republished it as an 8000-word e-book. Amazon removed the e-book from publication, but the claim was controversial as interviews are generally considered to be the creative work of the interviewer.

Awards, positions and honours

In 2005 Bryson was appointed chancellor of Durham University, succeeding the late Sir Peter Ustinov, and became more active with student activities than is common for holders of that post, even appearing in a Durham student film and promoting litter picks in the city. He had praised Durham as "a perfect little city" in Notes from a Small Island. In October 2010, it was announced that Bryson would step down at the end of 2011.
In May 2007, he became the president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. His first area of focus in this role was the establishment of an anti-littering campaign across England. He discussed the future of the countryside with Richard Mabey, Sue Clifford, Nicholas Crane and Richard Girling at CPRE's Volunteer Conference in November 2007.
Bryson has received numerous awards for his ability to communicate science with passion and enthusiasm. In 2004, he won the prestigious Aventis Prize for best general science book that year, with A Short History of Nearly Everything. In 2005, the book won the EU Descartes Prize for science communication. In 2005 he received the President's Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry for advancing the cause of the chemical sciences. In 2007, he won the Bradford Washburn Award from the Museum of Science in Boston, MA for contributions to the popularization of science. In 2012, he received the Kenneth B. Myer Award from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience in Melbourne, Australia.
With the Royal Society of Chemistry the Bill Bryson prize for Science Communication was established in 2005.
The competition engages students from around the world in explaining science to non-experts.
He was awarded an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to literature on 13 December 2006. The following year, he was awarded the James Joyce Award by the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin. After he received British citizenship his OBE was made substantive.
In 2011 he won the Golden Eagle Award from the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. On 22 November 2012, Durham University officially renamed the Main Library the Bill Bryson Library for his contributions as the university's 11th chancellor. The library also has a cafe named after Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island.
Bryson was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013, becoming the first non-Briton upon whom this honour has been conferred. His biography at the Society reads:
Bill Bryson is a popular author who is driven by a deep curiosity for the world we live in. Bill's books and lectures demonstrate an abiding love for science and an appreciation for its social importance. His international bestseller, A Short History of Nearly Everything, is widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science and has since been adapted for children.

In 2006 Frank Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines, awarded Bryson the key to the city and announced that 21 October 2006 would be known as "Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid, Day".
In January 2007, he was the Schwartz Visiting Fellow at the Pomfret School in Connecticut.

Honorary doctorates

Bryson has written the following books:
TitlePublication DateGenreNotes
The Palace under the Alps and Over 200 Other Unusual, Unspoiled and Infrequently Visited Spots in 16 European CountriesJanuary 1985Travel
'August 1989Travel
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way / Mother Tongue: The English Language 01 06 1990LanguageAdapted for Journeys in English in 2004 for BBC Radio 4.
'01 02 1992TravelFeaturing Stephen Katz
Made in America / Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States 04 07 1994Language
Notes from a Small Island16 05 1996TravelAdapted for television by Carlton Television in 1998.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail04 05 1998TravelFeaturing Stephen Katz. Adapted into a feature film in 2015.
Notes from a Big Country / I'm a Stranger Here Myself 01 01 1999Travel
Down Under / In a Sunburned Country 06 06 2000Travel
The English Landscape: Its Character and Diversity13 06 2001TravelIntroduction by Bryson with thirty-two added authors.
Walk About01 10 2002TravelSingle volume containing Down Under and A Walk in the Woods.
Bill Bryson's African Diary03 12 2002TravelTravels in Africa for CARE International.
A Short History of Nearly Everything06 05 2003Science
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: Travels through my Childhood17 10 2006Memoir
'01 01 2007Biography
Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors20 05 2008Language
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything27 10 2009Science
'05 12 2010History
'01 10 2013History
'08 10 2015Travel
The Body: A Guide for Occupants3 October 2019Science