Nicholson Baker

Nicholson Baker (born January 7, 1957) is a contemporary American novelist.

Life

Nicholson Baker was born in 1957 in Rochester, New York. He studied briefly at the Eastman School of Music and received his B.A. from Haverford College. He lives today with his wife and two children in South Berwick, Maine. He received a National Book Critics Circle Award in 2001.

Related Topics:
Rochester, New York - Eastman School of Music - Haverford College - South Berwick, Maine - National Book Critics Circle Award - 2001

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Apart from writing novels, Baker has been a fervent critic of librarians destroying paper-based media. He wrote several vehement articles in The New Yorker critical of the San Francisco Public Library sending thousands of books to a landfill, the elimination of card catalogs, and the destruction of old books and newspapers in favor of microfilm. In 1997 Baker received the San Francisco-based James Madison Freedom of Information Award in recognition of his efforts.

Related Topics:
Librarians - The New Yorker - San Francisco Public Library - Landfill - Card catalogs - Newspapers - Microfilm - 1997 - James Madison Freedom of Information Award

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In 1999, he established a non-profit corporation, the American Newspaper Repository to rescue old newspapers from destruction by librarians. He published a book in 2001 based on his researches in this area, Double Fold, in which he accuses certain librarians of lying about the decay of materials and having an obsession for technological fads, at the expense of both the public and historical preservation.

Related Topics:
1999 - 2001 - Double Fold

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