GIBBS, Tyson

PERSONAL: Male. Ethnicity: "African-American." Education: Dartmouth College, B.A., 1973; University of Florida, M.A., 1977, Ph.D., and certificate in gerontology, both 1979.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 311158, Denton, TX 76203. Office—Institute of Anthropology, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 310409, Denton, TX 76203. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, assistant museum curator and computer programmer for School of Medicine, 1971–73; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, data clerk at Institute of Clinical Toxicology, 1974–75; North Central Florida Community Mental Health Center, Gainesville, research assistant, 1975–76, research coordinator, 1976–78; University of South Carolina at Columbia, Columbia, instructor, 1980–81, assistant professor of preventive medicine and adjunct assistant professor of anthropology, 1981–83; Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, assistant professor of preventive dentistry and associate director of Center on Aging, 1983–87; Georgia State University, Atlanta, assistant professor of anthropology, 1991–92; West Georgia College, Carrollton, associate professor of sociology, 1992–93; Emory University, Atlanta, assistant professor of clinical medicine at Geriatric Center, 1993–94; University of North Texas, Denton, assistant professor, 1995–97, associate professor of anthropology, 1998–. National Institute on Aging, expert in health promotion, 1982; National Cancer Institute, expert in special populations studies, 1988–90. Retired Senior Volunteers Program of Denton, member, 1996–98.

AWARDS, HONORS: Named South Carolina Children's Scholar, State of South Carolina, 1982; grants from Administration on Aging, National Fellowship Fund, Rockefeller Foundation, National Institute on Aging, Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Spencer T. and Olin Foundation, Health Resources Administration, American Association of Retired Persons, Abt Associates, National Cancer Institute, Private Industry Council of Atlanta, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and National Collegiate Athletic Association.

WRITINGS:

(With Patikii Gibbs) Horseman Dolls, Collector Books (Paducah, KY), 1985.

(With Patikii Gibbs) The Collector's Encyclopedia of Black Dolls, Collector Books (Paducah, KY), 1987.

(With P.J. Gibbs) 200 Years of Decorative Arts in Tennessee, Winston-Derek Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1987.

(With Patikii Gibbs) Black Collectibles Sold in America, Collector Books (Paducah, KY), 1987.

African-Americans, Nutrition, Cancer, and Low Literacy, Cancer Control Science Program, National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD), 1993.

Ethnic Health Collections in the United States: A Guide to Repositories, Jamilla Powers (Atlanta, GA), 1993.

(With Jamilla Powers) Afro-centric Guide to Reflectiosn, Meditations and Prayers, JP Publications (Atlanta, GA), 1994.

A Guide to Ethnic Health Collections in the United States, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1996.

(With Amy Frishkey) Guide to Resources in Ethnic Studies on Minority Populations, Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston, NY), 2001.

Contributor to books, including The Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life, edited by Theresa Singleton, Academic Press (New York, NY), 1984; The Black American Elderly: Research on Physical and Psychosocial Health, edited by James Jackson, Springer Publishing (New York, NY), 1988; Health Issues in the Black Community, edited by Ronald Braithwaite and Sandra Taylor, Jossey-Bass (San Francisco, CA), 1992; Diversity and Culture, edited by Larry Naylor, editor, Bergin & Garvey (Westport, CT), 1997; and Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States, edited by Larry Naylor, Bergin & Garvey (Westport, CT), 1999. Contributor to professional journals, including Medical Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Florida Scientist, Journal of the National Medical Association, Journal of Public Health, Journal for Minority Medical Students, Western Journal of Black Studies, and High Plains Applied Anthropologist; contributor to other magazines, including Antique Review, Doll World, and American Visions.

WORK IN PROGRESS: African Americans at Snee Farm (monograph), and Ethnicity and Health Seeking Behavior, both scheduled for 2006 publication. Also working on World Cultures for Allyson and Bacon, and Reading Candles for JP Publishers.

SIDELIGHTS: Tyson Gibbs once told CA: "I write in the nonfiction area. My writings cover health, medical, and ethnic topics and antiques. My motivation for writing is to provide information on subjects which are often little understood. For example, I have written about African Americans and health issues. I write in this area because there are still gaps of information about what influences black Americans to seek treatment for an illness or disease. Although the knowledge base in this area is greater than in years past, there is much work to be accomplished.

"Similarly, I wrote the first series of books focused on an area called 'black collectibles.' This area was little understood when I wrote the first books back in 1986 and 1987. Since that time, many books have become available illustrating the variety of images created with blacks as subjects over the past 300 years.

"I write to enlighten. My major influences are my life experiences. I left home in the eleventh grade to attend school in New Hampshire. Coming from Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 1960s was quite an experience for a poor, southern, black kid. My life has been rich with all types of sensory input, and it is these inputs which make my writing what it is today.

"When I write, I essentially write in my head before I ever put pen on paper or hit the keypad on the computer. I think about the subject for some time, then when it appears that I can't get any more into my head, I let it out either by way of pen and paper or by way of the personal computer.

"My inspiration for my subjects are my life experiences: the coming of age of a poor, southern, black male."