Stiles ’86 Wins Pulitzer Prize for Biography of Vanderbilt
T.J. Stiles ’86 has won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography entitled “The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt,” published by Alfred A. Knopf. Incidentally, Stiles will be appearing on his alma mater’s campus next week, holding a public talk and book signing at Thursday, April 22 at 5 p.m., currently scheduled for Leighton Hall 305. He’s also scheduled to speak with Carleton students who are reading his book for a spring term class.
Northfield, Minn. — T.J. Stiles ’86 has won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography entitled “The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt,” published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Stiles won a National Book Award on Nov. 18, 2009, for his biography of Vanderbilt.
“I worked on my book for about seven years and I had no idea it would be so timely when it was published,” he said in a quote released with the announcement.
Incidentally, Stiles will be appearing on his alma mater’s campus next week, holding a public talk and book signing at Thursday, April 22 at 5 p.m., currently scheduled for Leighton Hall 305, while also making an appearance at the Northfield Public Library on Friday, April 23 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. He’s also scheduled to speak with Carleton students who are reading his book for a spring term class.
Stiles, a native of Foley, Minn., is the son of Clifford Stiles ‘53 and Carol Stiles and the brother of Kevin Stiles, all of Foley. Stiles, a history major at Carleton, also earned a degree from Columbia University. He wrote “Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War,” published in 2002. He is married and lives in San Francisco with his wife, Jessica Frank, and son, Dillon.
You can learn more about Stiles through his website at http://www.tjstiles.com/.