People like Christopher Paul Curtis

Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953) is an American children's books author. He is known for the Newbery Medal-winning Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963. The latter was adapted for a TV movie of the same name, which aired on the Hallmark Channel in 2013.

Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan, on May 10, 1953, to Dr. Herman Elmer Curtis, a chiropodist and factory worker/supervisor, and Leslie Jane Curtis, an educator.

Curtis attended Dewey Elementary, Clark Elementary, Pierce Elementary (in the Academically Gifted Program), Whittier Junior High School, and McKinley Junior High School of the Flint Public School System. In 1967, he was the first African-American student to be elected to the student council in the school's 32-year history. He graduated from Flint Southwestern High School in 1972 at the age of 19. Returning to college after working for years, he graduated from the University of Michigan–Flint in 2000.