Notable among Russell Freedman's many honors are the 1988 Newbery Medal for Lincoln: A Photobiography, the first nonfiction book awarded this distinction, and Newbery Honor citations for The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane (1992) and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (1993). In 1998, he was given the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal by the American Library Association for his contributions to children's literature.

Russell Bruce Freedman was born on October 11, 1929, the son of Louis N. Freedman (a sales representative for MacMillan Publishing Company) and Irene Gordon Freedman (an actress). He attended San Jose State College (now University) from 1947 to 1949 and the University of California, Berkeley, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. He served in Korea in the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps from 1951 to 1953. He worked from 1953 to 1956 for the Associated Press as reporter and editor, from 1956 to 1961 for an advertising company, and for Columbia University...