Sarah Jane Vowell
(born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, humorist, and commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has written several books and is a regular contributor to the radio program This American Life
on Public Radio International. She was also the voice of Violet in the animated film The Incredibles
and a short documentary, Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell
in the "Behind the Scenes" extras of The Incredibles
DVD release.
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SARAH VOWELL TICKETS
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Education and personal life
Vowell was born in
Muskogee,
Oklahoma. She has a fraternal twin sister, Amy. She earned a B.A. from
Montana State University in 1993 and an M.A. at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996. Vowell received the Music Journalism Award in 1996.
Vowell is part
Cherokee (about 1/8th on her mother’s side and 1/16th on her father’s side). According to Vowell, “Being at least a little Cherokee in northeastern Oklahoma is about as rare and remarkable as being a
Michael Jordan fan in Chicago.” She retraced the path of the forced removal of the Cherokee from the southeastern United States to Oklahoma known as the
Trail of Tears with her twin sister Amy.
This American Life
chronicled her story on
July 4 1998, devoting the entire hour to Sarah's work.
[1]
Vowell currently lives in
Chelsea, a residential neighborhood in
Manhattan. She cannot swim, is afraid of heights, and does not drive a car; she usually enlists the aid of her friends and family to drive her to historical sites when doing research. She has
celiac sprue, a condition in which the body has an auto-immune reaction to
gluten.
Career
Published works
After obtaining her master's degree, Vowell published a book about her affection for the radio medium,
Radio On: A Listener's Diary
, in 1997. Her writing has been published in
The Village Voice
,
Esquire
,
GQ
,
Spin
,
The New York Times
,
The Los Angeles Times
, and
The San Francisco Weekly
, and she has been a regular contributor to the online magazine
Salon
. She also has a published short story called "Shooting Dad" in which she talks about her childhood.
For the audio recording of
The Partly Cloudy Patriot
, Vowell was able to call upon such friends as
Conan O'Brien,
Seth Green,
Stephen Colbert,
David Cross,
Paul Begala,
Michael Chabon,
Norman Lear, and
They Might Be Giants to contribute to the reading. The resulting excerpts were posted in
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
.
[2]
In 2005, Vowell served as a guest columnist for the
New York Times during several weeks in July, briefly filling in for
Maureen Dowd. Vowell also served as a guest columnist in February 2006, and again in April 2006.
In 2008, Vowell contributed an essay about
Montana to the book
State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
.
Public appearances and lectures
Vowell has made many public appearances and has been on a number of speaking tours, usually discussing her written works as well as cultural and historical events.
She has made appearances on television shows like
Nightline
,
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
,
The Colbert Report
and
The Late Show with David Letterman
. She also made regular appearances on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
.
[3]
In April 2006, Vowell served as the keynote speaker at the 27th Annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference.
[4]
In August and September 2006, she toured around the United States as part of the national tour, which benefits the children's literacy centers
826NYC,
826CHI,
826 Valencia,
826LA,
826 Michigan, and
826 Seattle.
Sarah Vowell also provided commentary in Robert Wuhl's 2005
Assume the Position
HBO specials.
Voice and acting work
Vowell's first book, which had radio as its central subject, caught the attention of
This American Life
host
Ira Glass, and it led to Vowell becoming a frequent contributor to the show. Many of Vowell's essays have had their genesis as segments on the show.
In 2004, Vowell provided the voice of
Violet Parr, the shy teenager in the
Brad Bird-directed
Pixar animated film
The Incredibles
and reprised her role for the various related video games and Disney on Ice presentations featuring
The Incredibles
. The makers of
The Incredibles
discovered Vowell from episode of
This American Life
where she and her father fire a homemade cannon. Pixar made a test animation for Violet using audio from that sequence, which is included on the DVD version of
The Incredibles
. She also wrote and was featured in
Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell
included on the DVD version of
The Incredibles
, where she reflects on the differences between being super hero Violet and being an author of history books on the subject of assassinated presidents, and what it means to her nephew Owen.
Vowell provided commentary in "Murder at the Fair: The Assassination of President McKinley", which is part of the History Channel miniseries,
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America.
Vowell is featured prominently in the They Might Be Giants documentary
Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)
. She also participated on the DVD commentary for the movie, along with the film's director and They Might Be Giants'
John Linnell and
John Flansburgh.
In September 2006, Vowell appeared as a minor character in the ABC drama
Six Degrees
.
Partial bibliography
- 1997 Radio On: A Listener's Diary
ISBN 0-312-18301-1
- 2000 Take the Cannoli: Stories From the New World
ISBN 0-7432-0540-5
- 2002 The Partly Cloudy Patriot
ISBN 0-7432-4380-3
- 2005 Assassination Vacation
ISBN 0-7432-6003-1
- 2008 The Wordy Shipmates
ISBN 1-5944-8999-8
References
- This American Life at www.thisamericanlife.org
- McSweeney's Internet Tendency
- Barnes & Noble Biography
- University of Kentucky News