august wilson biography

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August Wilson
Any person that can rise up from the bottom rung of the ladder to the top is able to achieve great things in life. Renowned playwright August Wilson, a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, and other awards for his work, is an example of such persons. He grew up in a lower class black family, faced the difficulties of an African American, and turned himself into the great writer he is.
August Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel on April 27, 1945 to Daisy Wilson and Frederick Kittel. His father was a German immigrant, who rarely visited his family. His mother had walked up from North Carolina to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on foot where she cared for August and his five other siblings, while at the same time, she worked as a cleaning woman. August went to school, all the while delivering newspapers to provide what little income possible.
In his early years, August displayed a large interest in reading. When his family moved to Hazelwood in Pittsburg from the Hill District, it became a challenge to keep up his education, along with life with his stepfather David Bedford. Often he and his family faced racism, notes like “Nigger, go home” would be placed on his desk, and on their first day, a brick was thrown through their front window. He dropped out of school after being accused of plagiarism for a twenty-page paper on Napoleon. Thereafter, he continued his education through the Negro section in the library and...

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