Sherman Alexie
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian born and raised in the Spokane
Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. His father held various
jobs, including truck driver and logger and his mother was a social
worker. Alexie was born hydrocephalic and underwent a brain operation
at the age of 6 months, but was not expected to survive. When he did
live, doctors predicted he would live with severe mental retardation.
Although spared this, he did suffer through seizures and bed-wetting
throughout his childhood. Preferring to stay inside, he developed a
love for reading, liking Steinbeck as a five-year-old. Alexie faced
alcoholism for five years before becoming sober at 23. He graduated
with honors from Reardan High, where he was the only Indian. Alexie
planned to be a doctor until he "fainted three times in human anatomy
class" and stumbled into a poetry workshop at Washington State
University. He attened Gonzaga University in Spokane on a scholarship
and graduated in American Studies from Washington State. Alexie
received two prestigious fellowships and soon after cranked out eleven
books, placing the number of his total pieces of work at over
300.