� His parents were Louis N. Freedman, a publisher�s representative, and Irene Gordon Freedman, an actress
� As a boy, he was a baseball fan, loved books and history, and always wanted to be a writer
� As a child, Freedman met many famous writers, including John Steinbeck, Margaret Mitchell, John Masefield, and William Saroyan, when they were dinner guests in his home
� He credits his fifth grade teacher for encouraging him, and convincing him that he could write something that others would like to read
� Attended San Jose State College (1947-1949)
� Received his Bachelor�s Degree from University of California, Berkeley (1951 )
� Became interested in the Bill of Rights as a college student, when he would cut classes to watch the McCarthy hearings on television
� Served in the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps for two years, during which time he did a combat tour of duty in Korea
� Worked as reporter and editor for the Associated Press in San Francisco (1953-1956), which he credits with teaching him how to write and find three sources for every assertion made
� Employed by the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency in New York City as a publicity writer for television (1956-1960)
� Worked for Columbia University Press in New York City as an associate staff member of Columbia Encyclopedia (1961-1963)
� Editor for Crowell-Collier Educational Corp. (1964-1965)
� Began his freelance writing career in 1961 when he published his first book, Teenagers Who Made History
� Was a writing workshop instructor for the New School for Social Research (1969-1986)
� Received the American Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame for his book Children of the Wild West (1983)
� Honored by the Western Writers of America for his book Cowboys of the Wild West 1985)
� Freedman was the first author to receive a Newbery Medal for a work of nonfiction for his book Lincoln: A Photobiography, a form which he pioneered (1988)
� Received the Orbis Pictus Award and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1991)
� Awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for lifetime contribution to literature for young people (1998)
� Won the Robert F. Sibert Medal for The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights (2005)
� He is interested in animal behavior, and has written 20 books on the subject since the late 1960�s
� Decided to try writing biographies, his favorite genre to write, because he was convinced children�s lack of interest in history is due to the way it is taught
� Prefers to be called a �factual author� because �lots of people think nonfiction is less interesting and less important than fiction�
� Writes his books in longhand, then types them out on a typewriter or computer, and makes pencil revisions
� He did not buy a computer until he started doing research for In Defense of Liberty, for which he did much of his research using the Internet. He considers it his �first real Internet or computerized book�
� The photographic images he uses in his books influence the writing, and he often writes with the images in mind
� When he gets �stuck� in his writing, he will walk in the park and write in his head
� Travels extensively, all around the world, to do research for books he�s writing and to get ideas for future books
� Hobbies include travel, photography, and filmmaking
� A member of the Authors Guild, PEN, and the Society of Children�s Book Writers
� Currently lives in New York City
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY