Sherman Alexie

He is married to Diane Tomhave and has two sons.

He is a founding Board Member of Longhouse Media, a non-profit organization that teaches filmmaking skills to Native American youths.

He was born to Sherman Joseph Alexie, Sr. and Lillian Agnes as one of their six children on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He is of mixed ancestry.

He was born with the condition hydrocephalus that required him to have brain surgery at the tender age of six months. His parents were told that their son might not survive and even if he did, he may suffer serious mental disabilities. Miraculously he survived.

His alcoholic father was largely absent during his childhood and his mother worked at several jobs to support her children.

He suffered from frequent seizures during his childhood and had to take a lot of medicines to control them.

After attending the reservation school for some years he shifted to Rearden High School. He excelled in not just academics, but also in sports and extra-curricular activities.

His first collection of poetry, ‘The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems’ was published in 1992. ‘I would Steal Horses’ was released the same year.

His works primarily cover themes like poverty, racism, alcoholism, etc. which were common problems faced by the Native Americans. He would express his serious thoughts in a humorous and light-hearted manner.

Two other collections of poetry were published in 1993: ‘Old Shirts and New Skins’ and ‘First Indian on the Moon’.

His first work of prose, ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven’ was out in 1993. It was a collection of 22 interconnected short stories with recurring characters.

In 1995 his first full length novel, ‘Reservation Blues’ was published. He further developed the characters he had introduced in his short story collection in this novel.

His best known work is ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven’ a collection of short stories that explore the relationships between two Native American men living on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

He wrote the screenplay for the independent film ‘Smoke Signals’ based on his book ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven’. The film was well received at various film festivals and was critically acclaimed.