Nicholas+Sparks+-+Biography



"I am nothing special; of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicted to me, and my name will soon be forgotten, but I have loved someone with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough."

Nicholas Charles Sparks was born December 31, 1965 in Omaha, Nebraska to Patrick Michael Sparks, a bartender at the time, and Jill Emma Marie Sparks. His family consisted of his mother and father, his older brother Micah, his younger sister Danielle, and a dog named Pepper for some time.

Nicholas’s early education was mostly uneventful. He passed, but was mediocre at best. Once Nicholas got to high school, however, he kicked it up a notch. He received all A’s the next four years, and was named Valedictorian. He broke records running track for his school, and had received a full scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. He broke records at Notre Dame as well, his freshman year, until he injured his Achilles tendon and was basically banned from running for three months.

The family moved around quite a bit in Nicholas’s younger years. His father was still a student working toward getting into a master’s program, and so when he was accepted into the University of Minnesota, the family moved there for two years. Patrick was then accepted into a graduate program at the University of Southern California, and so the family picked up and moved to Los Angeles. In 1973, he moved to Grand Island, Nebraska for a year with his mother and siblings while his father finished his thesis. They were reunited in Fair Oaks, California in December of 1974. What with his father in college and his mother generally unemployed during this time of Nicholas’s life, they weren’t exactly rich. Nicholas says, “I never noticed how poor we really were until I was old enough to take an honest appraisal of things. Even then, it didn’t matter. For the most part, I had a wonderful childhood and wouldn’t change a thing.”

Nicholas actually began his writing career when he was put on bed rest for three months after injuring his Achilles tendon. Nicholas says that his mother got tired of things, and told him to stop pouting and do something already. He asked her what, and according to Nicholas, she said, “I don’t know. Write a book.” Nicholas thought about it, and said okay. And so he wrote his first book, “The Passing,” which was never published.

Throughout his life, Sparks has encountered many challenges. His mother was killed in 1989 in a horseback riding accident, only six weeks after his wedding. In late 1992, his family learned that his sister, Danielle, had cancer. This crisis would continue for many years, as Danielle’s cancer went into remission until 1997, when it reappeared. Then, in 2000, the doctors realized that the medicine prescribed to control her brain tumor was no longer working, and the family was told that it was only a matter of time. Nicholas spent the next six months flying back and forth between California where his sister was in the hospital, and home, North Carolina. Danielle passed away in June of 2000 at 33 years of age, an event which crushed Nicholas. Also, his son Ryan was diagnosed with Autism, which was very hard on the family until they were told later that the doctors made a mistake, and that he didn’t actually have Autism. Finally, his father passed away in 1996 after an automobile accident, at the age of 54.

Nicholas met his wife Cathy in 1988. They moved to North Carolina, and have since built their dream home and had five children. Their first son, Miles Andrew, was born after his success with //Wokini//. His second son, Ryan Cote, diagnosed incorrectly with autism, and later, correctly with CAPD, has improved significantly since he was first born. In January of 2000, his third son, Landon was born. Finally, in August of 2001, his twin daughters Lexie Danielle and Savannah Marin were born. He often uses names from his family in his novels.

Sparks loves to run. In high school and college, he won many awards for his track appearances. He is still quite involved with track, as he coaches the track and field team at New Bern High School. In fact, he paid for an entirely new all-weather track to replace the asphalt circle originally being used by the school. He estimates that he runs about 40 miles around his neighborhood each week. Track and field has become such an important part of his life that in August of 2004, he was asked to serve on the USA Track and Field Foundation Board of Directors, an honor which he accepted enthusiastically.

In the fall of 2001, Nicholas also decided to donate $1.5 million to the University of Notre Dame annually for scholarships, internships, and fellowships regarding creative writing.

In 2005, Nicholas and his family sponsored a family from New Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina. This would lead he and his wife to co-found the Epiphany School with Tom McLaughlin. The Epiphany school is a college prep school that offers a rigorous course load along with travel. Sparks says that the school’s mission is to “challenge students to pursue lifelong learning, faithful discipleship, courageous leadership, and compassionate service.”

Some interesting facts about Nicholas Sparks; He was once voted “Best Husband in America” by //Ladies Home Journal//. Also, he was voted “Sexiest Author” by //People// Magazine. He also has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Nicholas Sparks has written sixteen books published over a course of about 22 years. He has won countless awards, and many of his books have been made into movies, including //The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe,// and most recently debuted, //Dear John//. //The Last Song// is also set to debut in March with Miley Cyrus playing the leading role.

Nicholas Sparks’ career really took off after the fantastic success of //The Notebook//. He is most well known for this, being considered “a classic tale of everlasting love” by the New York Times. He has a total of sixteen books. Besides //The Notebook//, some of his other well-known novels are //A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe,// and //The Guardian//. His most recent books consist of //True Believer, The Choice, The Lucky One, Dear John,// and //The Last Song//.

//At First Sight, The Lucky One, Nights in Rodanthe, The Rescue,// and //True Believer// have all been number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List at one time within the last five years. Since the release of his first novel, all of Sparks’ books have been on the Best Seller List. Also, //The Notebook// was only the third novel in thirty years to spend over a year on this list, and the only novel ever to last over a year on both the hardcover and paperback list, until //Harry Potter// was released. It has sold over ten million copies worldwide. Currently, Sparks has two books on the Best Sellers List: //Dear John,// and //The Last Song// at number one. There are over 50 million copies of his books worldwide, and they have been translated into over 40 languages.

Currently, Sparks and his family are living happily in their home in North Carolina. His success continues with the release of //Dear John// and the release of //The Last Song// in March.. He also says that he’s in the process of writing a book about coaching the 800m in track, since he has retired from coaching. He says that, “As always, life marches on.”

I think that if I were to apply a motto to Sparks’ life it would be something to the effect of taking something negative, and turning it into something positive. This is a re-occurring theme in his life, because of all the negative things that have happened to him that he’s turned into successes.

Works Cited

Miller, Erin. "Nicholas Sparks." //Bestsellers//. 2010. The New York Times Company, Web. 21 Feb 2010. .

Romanello, Jennifer. "News From Grand Central Publishing." //Last Song// (2009): 1-4. Web. 21 Feb 2010. .

Sparks, Nicholas. "About Nicholas." //Nicholas Sparks: The Official Website//. 2009. Willow Holdings, Inc., Web. 21 Feb 2010. .

Stine, Rachel. "Nicholas Sparks Biography." //Comics and Literature//. 2009. EduBook, Inc., Web. 21 Feb 2010. .

"Nicholas Sparks." //Biography//. 2010. IMDB.com, Inc., Web. 21 Feb 2010. .

"Nicholas Sparks." //Interesting Facts About the Author//. 2010. Shelfari, Web. 21 Feb 2010. []>.

"Nicholas Sparks." //The Book Reporter//. 2010. The Book Report, Inc., Web. 21 Feb 2010. .