Albert Marrin Biography

Albert Marrin is the author of over two dozen books for young adults, numerous books for young readers, and four books of scholarship. Several of his books are available as audio recordings. In addition to writing, Marrin has been a teacher all of his life, a career that has deeply influenced his writing..

He was born on July 24th, 1936 in New York City to Louis and Frieda Marrin. He earned his B.A. at City College (now City College of the City University of New York) in 1958 and his Masters in Education at Yeshiva University in 1959. That was the same year he married the former Yvette Rappaport. They will soon be celebrating fifty happy years together. Yvette Marrin is president of the National Cristina Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to obtaining computer technology for people with special needs (see www.cristina.org and www.mcmahan-philanthropy.com.)

Marrin taught social studies at the Herman Ridder High School in New York City from 1959 to 1968, while earning a second Masters Degree and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. His Ph.D. thesis was the basis for his first book, War and the Christian Conscience: Augustine to Martin Luther King Jr., Gateway (Chicago), published in 1971. This was the beginning of a long career of writing books on history, especially about charismatic political leaders and various wars. This book was followed by three other academic books on historical subjects.

After a year as visiting professor, in 1968 Marrin became assistant professor of history at Yeshiva University, a post he held for ten years; he became professor and chairman of the history department at Yeshiva in 1978 and remained so until his retirement in 2001. He is now professor emeritus of history.

Marrin became interested in writing history books for young people while teaching social studies at a junior high school in New York City, and after writing four academic books he decided to try his hand at making history accessible to young people. His first juvenile non-fiction book was Overlord: D-Day and the Invasion of Europe, published by Atheneum (New York City) in 1982. This was followed over three dozen juvenile nonfiction books, including several on the World Wars, the expansion of the U.S. from East Coast to the West, portraits of world leaders such as Hitler, Cortes, Mao Tse Tung and Napoleon, a trio of books on Civil War generals, and a collection of books on notable presidents such as George Washington, Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and forthcoming books on both Roosevelts. He has also written about subjects as diverse as spies, pirates, paleontology and smallpox.

More recently, Marrin has turned his considerable skills to writing for younger readers, with books about the buffalo, rats, and a forthcoming book on parasites.

Marrin's long list of publications, including several audio recordings, is capped by his long list of awards including the Washington Children's Book Guild and Washington Post Non-Fiction Award for an "outstanding lifetime contribution that has enriched the field of children's literature" in 1995 and the James Madison Book Award in 2005.

Albert Marrin is represented by the Wendy Schmalz Agency, Box 831, Hudson, NY 12534.