Lynn University today announced that best-selling author James Patterson will address the Class of 2019 at its annual commencement ceremony May 11.
Patterson has sold over 275 million books worldwide, and he is the top-selling author in the past three years. He is the first author to simultaneously have new titles reach No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers Lists for adult and children, and the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at No. 1 each year since 2005. He has 19 consecutive No. 1 The New York Times best-selling novels and holds its record for most hardcover fiction best-selling titles by a single author (83)—a Guinness World Record.
Patterson is a lifelong champion of reading. The mission of JIMMY Patterson, his new children’s book imprint, is to inspire them to read even more. He created the James Patterson Pageturner Awards to reward creative reading initiatives, and ReadKiddoRead.com, which helps adults find books kids will love. He’s donated more than one million books to students, soldiers and school libraries and has over 400 Teacher Education Scholarships at 24 colleges and universities. He invests proceeds from sales of JIMMY Patterson Books into other pro-reading initiatives.
He is a two-time Children’s Choice Book Award “Author of the Year” nominee—a designation granted by more than 15,000 young readers. He is the creator of the Alex Cross detective series that inspired Hollywood’s Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls, and of the No. 1 new ABC detective series: Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club. He co-wrote his most recent No. 1 best-seller, The President is Missing, with former President Bill Clinton.
Additional accolades include the Edgar award, BCA Mystery Guild’s Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year Award, and Reader’s Digest Reader’s Choice Award. He also earned acknowledgment in Forbes’ Celebrity 100 and made a guest appearance on The Simpsons.
Lynn's 2019 Commencement will take place at the Palm Beach County Convention Center May 11 at 10 a.m. The ceremony is invitation only and will be broadcast live on Facebook.
