Nicholas Sparks: An American Classic

1669 Words4 Pages

Nicholas Sparks, an American author, writes love stories. His novel, The Notebook, was nominated for book of the year in 1997. Nicholas Sparks’ novels are translated into over thirty-five languages. He did not always dream of being a writer. Nicholas Sparks grew up in several different places as a child in a poor but educationally rich family and is now a best selling love novelist.

Growing up in a family that focused on education, Nicholas Sparks would eventually graduate at the top of his class. He was born on December 31,1965 in Nebraska. His parents were Patrick Sparks, who was a college professor, and his mother was Jill Sparks, who was a homemaker. He was the second child of three, one older brother and a younger sister. As a child he moved around quite a bit. He lived in Minnesota; then Los Angeles, California; and Grand Island, Nebraska; then finally at age eight settling in Fair Oaks, California. His family moved around while his father finished up his graduate work. He did not realize how poor his family was until he could take an honest look of things, but that did not concern him because he had a wonderful childhood and would not want to change a thing. When he went off to college in Indiana, he attended Notre Dame and was offered him a full track scholarship. While running on the track team his freshman year he set a school record that still stands today, unfortunately the season did not end well for Nicholas, with an Achilles tendon injury. (biography.com) During his time off and recovering his mother encouraged him to write a book to make good use of his time. He wrote a book in seven weeks called, A Work of Horror, even though it was never published it opened his eyes to what he enjoyed doing, writing. ...

... middle of paper ...

...http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CH1000129994&mode=view&userGroupName=lap52ncs&jsid=7bea1bf9f88de2c1394c89c14a0d2a89>

3. "Nicholas Sparks." Newsmakers. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 8 Jan. 2012.

4. “ABout Nicholas Sparks” 2002-2011 Willow Holdings, Inc.

8 January 2012

5. “What the Critics Say About Nicholas Sparks” Creighton University

Show More
Related

  • The Influential Work of Paul Laurence Dunbar

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Paul Laurence Dunbar." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit; Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Bowie High School, Arlington TX. 19 Nov. 2009.

    Read More

  • Lennie and George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...lena Krstovic. Vol. 172. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Minister's Black Veil - Poverty in Minister’s Black Veil and in Hawthorne’s Life

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    Swisher, Clarice. “Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.

    Read More

  • Joyce Carol Oates Biography

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Joyce Carol Oates was born on June 16th, 1938, in Lockport, New York. Raised on her parent’s farm in a rural area that had been hit by the Great Depression, she attended the same one-room school house as her mother. As a young child, Oates developed a love of literature and writing well beyond her years. She was very encouraged by her parents and grandparents to pursue her love of writing and as a teenager she was given her first typewriter. This was when her passion finally came to life. In 1953 at the age of only 15, she wrote her first novel about the rehabilitation of a drug dealer, which was later turned down by the publisher because the topic was not suitable for a young audience. Although her novels do focus on the horrors of society, her childhood growing up was no reflection of that. Oates has admitted that her childhood was “dull, ordinary and nothing people would be interested in. Oates continued writing throughout high school and earned a scholarship to attend Syracuse University. There she graduated at the top of her class in 1960, and in...

    Read More

  • F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...967): 18-28. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Humanization of Grendel

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 195. Detroit: Gale, 86-110. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Tulsa City County Library. 22 Oct. 2009 .

    Read More

  • The Life and Writings of Harper Lee

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Lee, Harper 1926-.” Concise Major 21 Century Writers. Ed. Tracey L. Matthews. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 2136-2140. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

    Read More

  • The Great Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau

    1929 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...er Smith, and Elizabeth Thomson. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.

    Read More

  • The Life and Works of Upton Sinclair

    2027 Words  | 5 Pages

    Evory, Ann, ed. Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale Research Company. 1982. 451-57.

    Read More

  • Nicholas Sparks; The Author of Romance

    1971 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska (Jessica Estremera). He was the second of three children born to Patrick Sparks, a college professor, and his wife Jill. Nicholas spent the early part of his childhood moving around with his family as his father finished up his graduate work (Biography Channel website). "Because my father was a student until I was 9 years old and my mother didn't work, we weren't exactly living the high life when I was little. I grew up on powdered milk and ate tons of potatoes, though to be honest, I never noticed how poor we really were until I was old enough to take an honest appraisal of things. Even then, it didn't matter. For the most part, I had a wonderful childhood and wouldn't change a thing.," Nicholas stated in an interview. The University of Notre Dame had offered Sparks a full track scholarship. In 1985, during his freshman year, Sparks was part of a relay team that set a school track record that still stands. But the season did not end on a good note for the future author: An Achilles tendon injury slowed things down for Sparks, and forced him to spend the summer recuperating. In the year 1988 Sparks graduated with honors and also met Catherine Cote, his future wife, who soon later married (Jessica Estremera). The day after he and his bride got married, Sparks heard the story which inspired The Notebook. Cathy’s grandparents were too ill to travel to the ceremony the day before, so the Sparks’ decided they would bring the wedding to them, redressing in tuxedo and gown and taking pictures at Cathy’s grandparents' home. Nicholas observed how Cathy’s grandfather treated his wife with great respect and admiration. The story of their love was recited to Sp...

    Read More

  • The Iran Hostage Crisis

    2450 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gale Virtual Reference Library -. Web. The Web. The Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Donaldson, Scott. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • The Zapatista Movement

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 166-173. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • The Amazing John Steinbeck

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Ernest Steinbeck Jr. was born February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. (The Biography Channel) His family was never wealthy, but they were middle-class, and his father John Ernest Steinbeck had several jobs to keep food on the table, and his mother Olive Hamilton was a school teacher. He was the third child of four children, and all of his siblings were girls. His father owned a feed-and-grain store, managed a flour shop, and was Monterrey County treasurer. (The Biography Channel) His father was a mason and his mother was a member of Eastern Star. (ANB) John Steinbeck sr. and Olive Hamilton were immigrants and were very rooted into the community; they established their identities this way. His parents believed it was good to expose their children to culture when they were little. They went to the theater often in San Francisco. His parents also had a variety of literature in the house for the children to read. Steinbeck’s biggest influence in his career was when he had been given a copy of Malory’s Morte d’Arthur at the age of nine. (Stephan) His mother and John Steinbeck's family lived in the "fertile agricultural valley,” and with that he formed an appreciation early for the Salinas Valley land, which he used in most of his later novels. (Wyatt) As a kid Steinbeck was shy and quite, but very smart. At the age of fifteen Steinbeck was "encouraged by his freshman English teacher to write," (ANB) and from then he knew he wanted to become a writer. He would often lock himself away in his bedroom and write. After high school he worked as a laborer in a sugar factory in Salinas, California, a laborer in mills, and a ranch hand. (Stephan)

    Read More

  • Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fifty Shades of Grey, is one of UK’s best-selling novels, and is written by the famously known author E.L James. E.L James was not a prominent writer until the release of the Fifty Shades trilogy, which, she claimed to have written during her mid-life crisis. This novel has taken female audiences all over the world by storm. It is set mainly in Seattle, and is the first book of the Fifty Shades trilogy (Fifty Shades Darker is the second book, and Fifty Shades Freed is the third book) (Gilman, 2013).

    Read More

More about Nicholas Sparks: An American Classic

Open Document