Charles J. Shields is an American biographer, primarily of twentieth century American novelists.
In 1997, Shields left a career in high school teaching and administration to write independently. Over the course of the next six years, he published twenty histories and biographies for young people. His first biography for adults, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee went on to become a New York Times bestseller.
In 2009, with fellow biographers Nigel Hamilton, James McGrath Morris, and Debby Applegate, Shields co-founded Biographers International Organization (BIO), a nonprofit organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners. As of July 2011, BIO has members in forty-three American states and ten nations, including Australia, India, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
Donald Corren is an audiobook narrator and a New York actor with leading credits on and Off-Broadway, as well as numerous television appearances. On Broadway, he costarred with Judy Kaye in the critically acclaimed production of Souvenir, and replaced Harvey Fierstein in the seminal production of Torch Song Trilogy. His Off-Broadway appearances include The Soap Myth, Dietrich & Chevalier, The Last Sunday in June, Stephen Sondheim’s Saturday Night, and the original New York production of Tomfoolery. His television credits include eight seasons as forensic tech Medill on NBC’s Law & Order, as well as his current role as Dr. Kurian on Syfy’s Z Nation.