Gilbert King (born February 22, 1962) is an American writer and photographer, known best as the author of Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America (2012), which won the Pulitzer Prize. He is also the writer, producer, and co-host of Bone Valley, the award-winning narrative podcast based on the Leo Schofield case, and released in 2022 by Lava For Good. King's previous book was The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South (2008) and his most recent is Beneath a Ruthless Sun: A True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found (2018).
He has written for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he is a featured contributor to the Smithsonian's history blog Past Imperfect. As a photographer, his work has appeared in many magazines including international editions of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and Cosmopolitan.
Biography
Gilbert King was born in 1962 in Rockville Center, New York and grew up in St. James, both on Long Island. When he was 12, he moved with his family to Schenectady, New York. King is a 1980 graduate of Niskayuna High School. He attended the University of South Florida, falling two math credits short of graduating before he decided to move to New York City. (On December 13, 2014, the university awarded King an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.)
In New York, King landed freelance writing and editing assignments for small newspapers and magazines. In 1991 he took a job with Macmillan Publishing as the assistant to the president and publisher. At the same time, as a self-taught photographer, he gained publication of his fashion and beauty work in national magazines such as Glamour, Jane, and Modern Bride, as well as international editions of magazines including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Madame Figaro, and Marie Claire. Among his clients were L'Oreal, Redken, Michael Kors, and Thierry Mugler.
By 2002, King began photographing coffee table books for different publishers. When a writer withdrew from a golf antiques project, King was asked if he would take over researching and writing the book. For the next several years, King wrote various illustrated books, as well as ghostwriting for celebrities and noted experts in their fields. Since 2008, he has published two major works of non-fiction exploring issues in US civil rights history. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for his book on Thurgood Marshall, attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1949 case of the Groveland Boys. He created and hosted the 2022 Lava For Good podcast Bone Valley about the 1987 killing of Michelle Schofield.
King is an avid golfer. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Books
The Execution of Willie Francis
The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South (2008) was published by Basic Civitas Books. It explores the life of Willie Francis, a 16-year-old African-American youth in Louisiana who, in 1946, survived being sentenced to death by the electric chair. His case became an international media story. His case was taken on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by Bertrand DeBlanc, a young Cajun lawyer. Francis had been convicted of killing DeBlanc's good friend, Andrew Thomas. King reveals the backstage lobbying among the justices and Justice Frankfurter's regret about voting against his conscience in favor of allowing the execution to proceed.
Reception
Counterpunch magazine said it was "almost certainly the best book on capital punishment in America since Mailer's, The Executioner's Song." Booklist notes how "Drawing on extensive research and interviews, King offers a compelling page-turner that examines American racism and justice in the region." In two starred reviews, Kirkus Reviews described the book as "strangely charming and unforgettable" and Library Journal said, "Highly recommended ... From the first page to the last, King holds our attention with gripping and disturbing details."
Devil in the Grove
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America (HarperCollins, 2012) explores another case of racial injustice. King won the annual Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2013 for this book.