James Srodes
| James Lewis Srodes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1940 New Castle, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Residence | Washington, D.C. |
| Alma mater | University of Florida, B.A. |
| Occupation | Journalist and Author |
| Spouse(s) | Cecile Srodes |
| Website | jamessrodes |
James Srodes is an American journalist and author. In 2015, the Virginia Press Association awarded Srodes its first prize for critical writing for his series of book reviews for the The Washington Times.
His latest book is a multiple-biography titled On Dupont Circle: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the Progressives Who Shaped Our World that was published by Counterpoint Press in 2013. The book, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times history book award and also was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, portrays a group of reform-minded strivers in Washington, D.C. between World War I and World War II. This group included Herbert Hoover, William Bullitt, Felix Frankfurter, Walter Lippmann, Sumner Welles, John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, Eleanor Lansing Dulles, Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. According to the Washington Independent Review of Books, “James Srodes deftly portrays their colorful stories. He also makes the bold argument that the 'set,' as he calls them, profoundly influenced U.S. policies for much of the 20th century.” According to a review in Publishers Weekly, “Srodes is refreshingly unafraid to question his subjects' motives.”
Srodes is also the author of Franklin, The Essential Founding Father. The biography of Benjamin Franklin was chosen by the City of Philadelphia in 2006 for its One Book-One Philadelphia community reading program in celebration of Franklin’s 300th birthday. The city’s Free Library system of 60 branch libraries circulated a special edition of the biography as part of the One Book program’s literacy promotion efforts. As part of that effort, Srodes appeared at a series of book talks and seminars at local library branches, schools and area colleges during a four-month period.
Srodes also was the moderator of a symposium featuring five other Franklin historians at the Free Library that was broadcast on C-SPAN’s weekend book program to kick off the Franklin Tercentenary Commission three-year traveling history and memorabilia exhibit of Franklin’s life and times. With Peter Earnest, executive director of the International Spy Museum in Washington, Srodes also appeared in a multi-city speaking tour tied to the Tercentenary showings on Ben Franklin-Super Spy. Srodes’s 2000 biography of the CIA architect and longest serving director, Allen Dulles: Master of Spies, was named the best intelligence book of that year by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. His first book was the 1982 international best-seller, Dream Maker: The Rise and Fall of John Z. DeLorean, about the controversial automobile developer. That book was optioned as a potential film written by James Toback. Following publication, the indicted carmaker’s defense lawyers subpoenaed Srodes, because they wanted him to name the law enforcement agents with whom he talked about John DeLorean’s alleged trafficking in cocaine.
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