Roy Blount Jr.: Difference between revisions

|caption = Roy Blount Jr. at the 2007 Texas Book Festival.

'''Roy Alton Blount Jr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|l|ʌ|n|t}}; born October 4, 1941) is an [[United States|American]] writer, speaker, reporter, and humorist.

Blount was born in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], and grew up in [[Decatur, Georgia]].<ref name="rbj-bio" /> He attended Ponce de Leon Elementary School and graduated from [[Decatur High School (Georgia)|Decatur High School]], where he was class president and editor of the school newspaper, ''The Scribbler''. He received the [[Grantland Rice]] Journalism Scholarship to study journalism at [[Vanderbilt University]], where he distinguished himself and was [[Phi Beta Kappa Society|Phi Beta Kappa]] and graduated magna cum laude. He went on to [[Harvard University]], where he received his MA degree. Blount is married to painter Joan Griswold; they reside in [[New Orleans]] and [[western Massachusetts]].<ref name="rbj-bio">{{cite web |urllast=http://www.royblountjr.com/resume.htmBlount |titlefirst=BioRoy |firsttitle=RoySelf-Promotional Bio, In Third Person |lasturl=Blounthttps://royblountjr.com/bio/ |publisher=RoyBlountJr.com}}</ref>

In 2002, he narrated ''The Main Stream'', a [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] documentary about the [[Mississippi River]]. As of 20112024, he is featured regularly as a panelist on the [[National Public Radio|NPR]] news/comedy quiz show, ''[[Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!]]'' He was also a recurring guest on ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]''. In May 2010, he made a cameo appearance on [[HBO]]'s series ''[[Treme (TV series)|Treme]]'' about post-[[Hurricane Katrina|Katrina]] [[New Orleans]].<ref>[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/05/treme-cameos-by-new-york-chefs-southern-writers-and-tennessee-bacon.html 'Treme': Cameos by New York chefs, Southern writers and Tennessee bacon] LA Times Blog. May 10, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2018.</ref>

Blount performs with the [[Rock Bottom Remainders]], a rock band composed entirely of writers.

Blount is also a former president of the [[Authors Guild]]. On February 24, 2009, he wrote an op-ed article for ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="NYT20090224">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/opinion/25blount.html|title=The Kindle Swindle?|last=Blount|first=Roy|work=New York Times|date=February 24, 2009|accessdateaccess-date=February 24, 2009}}</ref> explaining the Authors Guild's position demanding extra royalties from the text-to-speech functionality of the [[Kindle 2|Amazon Kindle 2]]. To criticism from the American [[National Federation of the Blind]], he replied that free audio availability of copyright works to the blind is provided for automatically by American copyright laws. To the criticism that the Kindle's functionality is equivalent to parents reading aloud to their children, he said, "the Authors Guild does not expect royalties from anybody doing non-commercial performances of ''[[Goodnight Moon]]''. If parents want to send their children off to bed with the voice of Kindle 2, however, it’s another matter."

* ''Crackers: This wholeWhole Many-Angled Thing of Jimmy, More Carters, Ominous Little Animals, Sad Singing Women, My Daddy, and Me'' (1980, paperback 1998)

* ''Robert E. Lee'' (2003, Penguin Lives series) {{ISBN|9780670032204}}

*[http://www.royblountjr.com {{Official site]website}}

*{{IMDb name|id=0089397|name=Roy Blount Jr.}}

*{{C-SPAN|Roy Blount}}

[[Category:Sports Illustrated people]]