They moved to Bryson's hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1975 so Bryson could complete his degree at Drake University. He met a nurse there, Cynthia Billen, whom he married in 1975. Bryson wrote about some of his experiences from the trip in his book Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe.īryson first visited Britain in 1973 during his tour of Europe and decided to stay after securing a job working in a psychiatric hospital, the now-defunct Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey. He returned to Europe the following year with a high school friend, Matt Angerer (the pseudonymous Stephen Katz). In 2006 Frank Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines awarded Bryson the key to the city and announced that 21 October 2006 would be "Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid, Day." īryson attended Drake University for two years before dropping out in 1972, deciding instead to backpack around Europe for four months. In 2006, Bryson published The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines. He had an older brother, Michael (1942–2012), and a sister, Mary Jane Elizabeth. Early life īryson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Bill Bryson Sr., a sports journalist who worked for 50 years at the Des Moines Register, and Agnes Mary (née McGuire), the home furnishings editor at the same newspaper. He has sold over 16 million books worldwide. In October 2020 he announced that he had "retired" from writing books, although in 2022 he recorded an audiobook for Audible, entitled 'The Secret History of Christmas'. He received widespread recognition again with the publication of A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), a book widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science. īryson came to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication and accompanying television series of Notes from a Small Island (1995), an exploration of Britain.
He served as the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011. between 19, and holds dual American and British citizenship.
Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the U.S. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. William McGuire Bryson OBE HonFRS ( / ˈ b r aɪ s ən/ born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author.
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