2013 Honorary Chair, Steve Berry

Steve Berry, New York Times best-selling author, is the first national spokesperson for Preservation Week. Berry started as spokesperson in January 2012 with an appearance at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, where he gave the keynote presentation at the Preservation Week 2012 Kick Off, sponsored by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS). He also commented on his role and the Preservation Week initiative in a YouTube video. We are thrilled that Steve Berry has agreed to continue as Preservation Week Spokesperson for 2013.

A devoted student of history, Berry and his wife, Elizabeth, founded History Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding the preservation of the fragile reminders of our past.  Since then, they have traveled the world raising much-needed funds for a wide range of historic preservation projects.

In a recent Wall Street Journal interview (Nov. 2, 2011), Mr. Berry notes, “What are we losing when that [on being told of the rapid loss of our historical record] happens?  We’re losing windows to the past, thoughts to the past and ideas to the past, and that really affected me.”

A native of Georgia, Steve Berry graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.  You can learn more about Steve Berry and History Matters at steveberry.org.

Berry is the author of ten novels, including his most recent book, The Columbus Affair (Ballantine, May 2012), featuring as protagonist Tom Sagan, a disgraced Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His next book, The King's Deception, will be released in June 2013.

Berry’s works have been translated into 40 languages with more than 12 million books in print in 51 countries worldwide.  Other titles include The Emperor’s Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Alexandria Link and The Venetian Betrayal.

As National Spokesperson, Berry appears in print and digital public service announcements (PSAs) promoting Preservation Week. Other promotional materials include a sample op-ed, proclamation, press release and scripts for use in radio ads.  All tools are available at www.ala.org/preservationweek.