Julius Lester is an American author of books for children and adults, and taught for 32 years at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is also a photographer, as well as a musician who recorded two albums of folk music and original songs. Born on January 27, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri, Julius Lester is the son of Rev. W.D. Lester, a Methodist minister, and Julia Lester. The family moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 1941, and to Nashville, Tennessee,in 1952. In 1960 he received his BA from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee with a major in English and minors in Art and Spanish. In... 1961 he moved to New York City where he married Joan Steinau. They had two children, Jody Simone and Malcolm Coltrane . The couple divorced in 1970. Malcolm Lester coaches lacrosse and teaches English at St. Albans School in Washington DC.
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