James Patterson's books have sold over 400 million copies worldwide. He says he often gets ideas for them late at night. His latest, The #1 Dad Book, offers advice for fathers. He spoke with Terry Gross at a WHYY live event for the "Lifelong Learning Award." Also, Martin Johnson reviews a new album from accordionist Will Holshouser, and we listen back to Terry's interview with him when he brought his instrument to the studio.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, James Patterson, has sold over 400 million copies of his many books. Those books include the Alex Cross Detective Series, the Women's Murder Club Series, and Maximum Ride. Alex Cross was spun off into three films, two starring Morgan Freeman and another starring Tyler Perry.
An Amazon Prime video series called Cross has been renewed for a second season. Patterson has co-authored books with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton. His second collaboration with Clinton will be published this summer. Patterson's also written nonfiction books about the Kennedys, John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, and Jeffrey Epstein, as well as books for children and young adults.
His new book, The Number One Dad Book, is addressed to new fathers who need some advice. Back when Patterson was starting to write, he took a job as a junior copywriter at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency. He rose to the top, becoming CEO and then head of the agency's North America division. If you're wondering how he's managed to do all this, he typically works with collaborators.
Patterson writes an elaborate outline of the story. The collaborators write the sentences. He describes this in more detail in his 2022 memoir called James Patterson by James Patterson. I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that he's now collaborating on a thriller with the star YouTuber and influencer known as Mr. Beast. As you can guess, Patterson is pretty rich.
He's also a generous philanthropist, donating over $7 million to schools and classroom libraries around the country, establishing over 400 teacher and writer education scholarships at 21 colleges and universities... and giving over $2 million to independent bookstores.
In recognition of his work, on May 14th, James Patterson received the Lifelong Learning Award from WHYY, the public radio and TV station where Fresh Air is produced. That was the occasion for our interview, which we recorded in front of an audience.
Hi, I'm Stephen King. I'm here to honor James. I love the guy. What can I tell you?
First of all, congratulations, and thank you for doing this interview.
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