Bill Bryson

William McGuire Bryson ( ; born 8 December 1951) is an American journalist and author who was naturalized as a British citizen in 2014. Bryson has written nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Bryson moved to Britain in his twenties and remained in the country for most of his adult life. However, he periodically returned to live in the U.S. such as between 1995 and 2003. He was the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.

In 1995, while in the United Kingdom, Bryson wrote Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain. In 2003, he authored A Short History of Nearly Everything. In October 2020, he retired from writing books. He has sold over 16 million books worldwide. He recorded an audiobook for Audible, The Secret History of Christmas, in 2022.

Early life and education Bryson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Bill Bryson Sr., a sports journalist who worked for 50 years at The Des Moines Register, and Agnes Mary (née McGuire), the home furnishings editor at the same newspaper. His mother was of Irish descent. He had an older brother, Michael (1942–2012), and a sister, Mary Jane Elizabeth. In 2006, Bryson published The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines.

Bryson attended Drake University for two years before dropping out in 1972, deciding instead to backpack around Europe for four months. He returned to Europe the following year with a high school friend, Matt Angerer (the pseudonymous Stephen Katz). Bryson wrote about some of his experiences from the trip in his book Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe.

Career

Bryson first visited Great Britain in 1973 and decided to stay after securing a job working in a psychiatric hospital, the now-defunct Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey. He met a nurse there, Cynthia Billen, whom he married in 1975.

He worked as a journalist, first for the Bournemouth Evening Echo, eventually becoming chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent.

The Brysons moved around the United Kingdom, living in Virginia Water (Surrey), Purewell (Dorset), Burton (Dorset), Kirkby Malham, and the Old Rectory in Wramplingham, Norfolk (2003–2013). They currently live in rural Hampshire and maintain a small flat in South Kensington, London.

Although able to apply for British citizenship, Bryson said in 2010 that he had declined a citizenship test, declaring himself "too cowardly" to take it. In 2014, he said that he was preparing to take it and in the prologue to his 2015 book The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island he describes doing so, in Eastleigh. His citizenship ceremony took place in Winchester and he now holds dual citizenship.

In 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, British voters chose Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island as that which best summed up British identity and the state of the nation. Also in 2003, he was appointed a Commissioner for English Heritage.

His popular science book, the 500-page A Short History of Nearly Everything, explores not only the histories and current statuses of the sciences, but also their humble and often humorous beginnings. Although one "top scientist" is alleged to have jokingly described the book as "annoyingly free of mistakes", Bryson makes no such claim, and a list of some of its reported errors is available online.

In November 2006, Bryson interviewed UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on the state of science and education. Bryson also wrote two popular works on the history of the English language, The Mother Tongue and Made in America—and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (first published as The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words in 1983). He also released a podcast, Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science, in 2017.

Litigation In 2012, Bryson sued his agent, Jed Mattes Inc., in New York County Supreme Court, claiming it had "failed to perform some of the most fundamental duties of an agent". The case was settled out of court with confidential terms.

In 2013, Bryson claimed copyright on an interview he had given nearly 20 years previously, after the interviewer republished it as an 8,000-word e-book. Amazon removed the e-book from publication.

Awards, positions and honours In 2004, he won the Aventis Prize for best general science book that year, with A Short History of Nearly Everything. In 2005, the book won the European Union's Descartes Prize for science communication. He had praised Durham as "a perfect little city" in Notes from a Small Island.

With the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Bill Bryson Prize for Science Communication was established in 2005. The competition engages students from around the world in explaining science to non-experts. As part of its 350th anniversary celebrations in 2010 the Royal Society commissioned Bryson to edit a collection of essays by scientists and science writers about the history of science and the Royal Society over the previous three and a half centuries entitled Seeing Further.

He was made an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to literature on 13 December 2006. In 2007, he was awarded the James Joyce Award by the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin. After he received British citizenship, his OBE was made substantive.

In May 2007, he became the president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. His first focus in this role was the establishment of an anti-littering campaign across England. He discussed the future of the countryside with Richard Mabey, Sue Clifford, Nicholas Crane, and Richard Girling at CPRE's Volunteer Conference in November 2007.

Bryson stepped down as chancellor of Durham University at the end of 2011.

In 2012, he received the Kenneth B. Myer Award from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience in Melbourne, Australia.

On 22 November 2012, Durham University officially renamed the Main Library the Bill Bryson Library for his contributions as the university's 11th chancellor (2005–2011). The library also has a cafe named after Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island.

Bryson was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2013, becoming the first non-Briton to receive this honour. His biography at the Society reads,

Bill Bryson is a popular author who is driven by a deep curiosity for the world we live in. Bill's books and lectures demonstrate an abiding love for science and an appreciation for its social importance. His international bestseller, A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), is widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science and has since been adapted for children.

He is a vice president of the National Churches Trust.

In January 2007, Bryson was the Schwartz Visiting Fellow at the Pomfret School in Connecticut.

Honorary doctorates Honorary Doctor of the University, The Open University, 2002 Honorary Doctor of Civil Law, Durham University, 2004 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Bournemouth University, 2005 Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of St Andrews, 2005 DLitt, University of Leeds, 2005 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of Leicester, 2009 Doctor of Humane Letters, Drake University, 2009 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, King's College London, 13 November 2012 Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Westminster, 2015 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Iowa, May 2016 Honorary Doctorate of Letters for services to literature, University of Winchester, October 2016

Works Bryson has written the following books: