PUBLISHERS MARKETPLACE
JUNE 23, 2021
HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD
by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
Non-fiction: Biography
WP reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa's HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD: ONE MAN'S LIFE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE, a biography of George Floyd, placing his life in the context of this country's larger history of systemic racism in housing, health care, education, prisons, and policing, to offer a look into the forces and experiences that shaped Floyd while contrasting his trajectory with that of Derek Chauvin and the events that ultimately brought the two men together, to Ibrahim Ahmad at Viking, at auction, for publication in May 2022, by Karen Brailsford and Todd Shuster at Aevitas Creative Management on behalf of The Washington Post (NA).
Rights also to Andrea Henry at Transworld (UK), at auction, by Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein; to Fischer (Germany), in a pre-empt, by Uwe Neumahr at Agence Hoffman; to Marginesy (Poland), in a pre-empt, by Piotr Wawrzenczyk at Book/lab Literary Agency; and to Like (Finland), in a pre-empt, by Willem Bisseling at Sebes & Bisseling.
Read the award-winning Washington Post series, "George Floyd's America," that inspired the book.
Associated Press
George Floyd biography to be published in 2022
November 10, 2021
NEW YORK (AP) — Two Washington Post reporters are working on a biography of George Floyd, from his family history in the tobacco fields of North Carolina to his murder last year in Minneapolis by a white police officer.
Viking announced Wednesday that “His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice,” by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, will come out next May, nearly two years to the day of Floyd’s death.
The book expands upon the Post’s six-part series “George Floyd’s America,” winner of a Polk award for justice reporting.
“George Floyd’s gruesome, videotaped death changed the world, as millions were moved by the raw humanity of a dying man pleading for air,” Olorunnipa said in a statement. “As we’ve examined his life over the past year, we’ve learned how his struggle to exhale as a Black man in America began decades before a police officer’s knee landed on his neck.”
AP News
penguinrandomhouse.com
About HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD
A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the singular story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement for change.
The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country’s broken systems of policing. But behind a face that would be graffitied onto countless murals, and a name that has become synonymous with civil rights, there is the reality of one man’s stolen life: a life beset by suffocating systemic pressures that ultimately proved inescapable.
This biography of George Floyd shows the athletic young boy raised in the projects of Houston’s Third Ward who would become a father, a partner, a friend, and a man constantly in search of a better life. In retracing Floyd’s story, Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa bring to light the determination Floyd carried as he faced the relentless struggle to survive as a Black man in America. Placing his narrative within the larger context of America’s deeply troubled history of institutional racism, His Name Is George Floyd examines the Floyd family’s roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his Houston schools, the overpolicing of his communities, the devastating snares of the prison system, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence—putting today’s inequality into uniquely human terms. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and extensive original reporting, Samuels and Olorunnipa offer a poignant and moving exploration of George Floyd’s America, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.
Penguin Random House website
WASHPOST PR BLOG
The Washington Post’s biography of George Floyd to be published by Viking
November 10, 2021
Viking has announced the upcoming release of The Washington Post’s biography of George Floyd, “His Name Is George Floyd." More information from Viking:
Viking is pleased to announce His Name Is George Floyd, a landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. Executive Editor Ibrahim Ahmad at Viking acquired North American rights from Karen Brailsford and Todd Shuster at Aevitas Creative Management.
Placing his narrative within the larger context of America’s deeply troubled history of institutional racism, this new book will reveal how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the singular story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement of change. His Name Is George Floyd will be published on May 17, 2022.
The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country’s broken systems of policing. But behind a face that would be graffitied onto countless murals, and a name that has become synonymous with civil rights, there is the reality of one man’s stolen life: a life beset by suffocating systemic pressures that ultimately proved inescapable.
This biography of George Floyd shows the athletic young boy raised in the projects of Houston’s Third Ward who would become a father, a partner, a friend, and a man constantly in search of a better life. In retracing Floyd’s story, Samuels and Olorunnipa bring to light the determination Floyd carried as he faced the relentless struggle to survive as a Black man in America.
Developed out of The Washington Post’s award-winning six-part series “George Floyd’s America,” His Name Is George Floyd examines the Floyd family’s roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his Houston schools, the overpolicing of his communities, the devastating snares of the prison system, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence—putting today’s inequality into uniquely human terms. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and extensive original reporting, Samuels and Olorunnipa offer a poignant exploration of George Floyd’s life and lasting impact, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.
Samuels says, “When we first set out on this reporting journey, we told George Floyd’s friends and family that our mission was to understand his soul. And in trying to understand George Floyd’s life, we learned about a man who was complicated, loving, ambitious—someone who never gave up on a dream to make a difference in this world, despite the barriers that stood in his way. We are thrilled to introduce readers to the person we got to know and to illustrate what his life and legacy can teach us about race, racism, and the pursuit of the American dream.”
Olorunnipa says, “George Floyd’s gruesome, videotaped death changed the world, as millions were moved by the raw humanity of a dying man pleading for air. As we’ve examined his life over the past year, we’ve learned how his struggle to exhale as a Black man in America began decades before a police officer’s knee landed on his neck. We are excited to work with Viking to tell that story, revealing both a life that mattered and the systems that so tragically denied its worth.”
Brian Tart, President and Publisher of Viking, says, “We are honored to partner with The Washington Post and their reporters, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, to tell one of the most important stories of our generation—the sometimes hidden but always devastating effect of systemic racism on the individual.”
Robert Samuels is a national political enterprise reporter for The Washington Post who focuses on the intersection of politics, policy, and people. He previously told stories about life in the District for the Post’s social issues team. Samuels joined the Post in 2011 after spending nearly five years working at the Miami Herald.
Toluse Olorunnipa is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the Post in 2019 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he spent five years at Bloomberg News, where he reported on politics and policy from Washington and Florida. Olorunnipa is also an on-air contributor to CNN.
For pre-order, visit here. For further information, please contact: Lindsay Prevette at lprevette@penguinrandomhouse.com / 212.366.2224
WashPost PR blog
KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)
An intimate look at the life of the Black man whose murder sparked worldwide protests and a reinvigoration of the movement for racial justice.
April 6, 2022
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died beneath the knee of White Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The video of the killing made Floyd “a global icon for racial justice,” write Washington Post journalists Samuels and Olorunnipa. Through painstaking research and more than 400 interviews, the authors sought to learn, “Who was George Floyd? And what was it like to live in his America?” As a child, Floyd dreamed of making a name for himself. “He was young, poor, and Black in America—a recipe for irrelevance in a society that tended to push boys like him onto its margins,” write the authors. “But he assured everyone around him that, someday, he would make a lasting impact.” As an adult, Floyd faced challenges related to addiction, mental health, education, employment, poverty, and criminal activity. Samuels and Olorunnipa trace more than 300 years of American history and Floyd’s family history, placing his death within the context of the systemic racism that shaped his life. The authors got haircuts from Floyd’s barber, visited the communities he called home, and talked to his extended family, friends, lovers, teachers, and acquaintances “to help the world to see Perry [as Floyd was known] as they saw him.” Writing with cogency and compassion, the authors free Floyd from the realm of iconography, restoring his humanity. In these powerful pages, he emerges as a sensitive man with ambitions, successes, and failures. Both his loving nature and his despair are palpable, conveyed in heartbreaking detail. The recounting of his death is devastating to read, and the aftermath, despite his killer’s conviction, is somber. Sadly, the congressional police reform bill named for Floyd remains unpassed.
A brilliant biography, history book, and searing indictment of this country’s ongoing failure to eradicate systemic racism.the aftermath, despite his killer’s conviction, is somber. Sadly, the congressional police reform bill named for Floyd remains unpassed.
Kirkus Reviews starred review
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