Famed author James Patterson visits Nashville, talks new book, bans and love of reading

It was a night of self-deprecating humor, zinging one-liners and lively discussion about the importance of literacy and book bans as famed author James Patterson returned to his alma mater Thursday for an evening at Vanderbilt University.

Patterson, 77, is the best-selling author known for his "Alex Cross" series that spawned several movies, an upcoming Amazon Prime Video series and "Women's Murder Club" books. He's written more than 200 novels and discussed literacy issues with journalist John Seigenthaler Thursday at Vanderbilt.

Patterson said his newest book, "The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True stories of the magic of Reading," was inspired, in part, because his mother, Isabelle, worked for 49 years as a teacher and on the weekends as a librarian. He was always inspired by her willingness to give things to people, he said.

Throughout his career, Patterson has donated more than a million books to students, focusing on under-resourced schools and youth programs in the U.S. He has donated $7.25 million to school and classroom libraries and $2.1 million to independent bookstores and their employees.

"It's in my blood to do it," Patterson said of the donations.

The Thursday event was hosted by Seigenthaler, a managing partner of FINN Partners in Nashville who previously worked locally at WKRN and WSMV before working at NBC News.

During the event, Patterson noted that he wasn't a writing prodigy from the outset. He cut his teeth in advertising before hitting it big in writing, he said.

Advertising, as he said, would give him a new perspective on writing, teaching him about audience and to be aware of what they want.

"My strength is I can tell story, story, story. I can do them quickly," Patterson said. "My weakness is probably I should dig a little deeper sometimes."

Even at 77, Patterson was having fun with the crowd, telling jokes and questioning how someone could be inspired by his writing.

Patterson recently worked on an unfinished manuscript from Michael Crichton, the author of "Jurassic Park."

The novel is about an immediate eruption of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano that threatens a looming secret on the island.

"I said, 'yes, I have to complete this,' because I want to know how it turns out," Patterson said as laughter erupted from the crowd.

Thursday's event was part of the university's Dialog Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy initiatives to promote civil discourse and better understanding. Included in the discussion was the topic of book bans, something Patterson has experienced with his "Maximum Ride" series.

"I don't want a stranger coming in and telling my family members what they should and shouldn't read. I don't want that, and that's what's happening," he said. "If you want to be aware of what your kids are reading, you should. That's your job."

To promote literacy among kids, Patterson said the key is to give them compelling books that make them want to go from one book to the next.

Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Author James Patterson talks book bans, literacy in Nashville