Mark Mathabane touched the hearts of millions with his sensational autobiography Kaffir Boy. Telling the true story of his coming of age under apartheid in South Africa, the book topped the charts on the New York Times and Washington Post bestseller lists and was translated into several languages. Born of destitute parents whose $10 a week wage could not pay the rent for their shack or put food on the table, Mathabane spent the first 18 years of his life in a one square mile ghetto that was home to more than 200,000 oppressed, voteless, and exploited blacks.

A childhood of devastating poverty, terrifying and brutal police raids and relentless humiliation drove him to the brink of suicide at the age of ten. He escaped from apartheid in 1978 at the age of 18 when Stan Smith, the American tennis professional and a former Wimbledon champion, arranged a tennis scholarship for him to study at an American college.

In 1984 he graduated cum laude with a degree in Economics from Dowling College in New York, where he was editor of the college paper. He briefly attended the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism before devoting himself full-time to writing and lecturing. His many articles about apartheid, education, and race relations and his book reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsday and US News and World Report. http://www.mathabane.com/articles.htm

He is the author of two best selling books, Kaffir Boy, published in 1986, and its sequel, Kaffir Boy in America, published in 1989. He has appeared on numerous television shows, including CNN, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and NBC's Today show. Kaffir Boy has been translated into several languages and is widely used in high schools and colleges across America.

Love in Black and White, which is co-authored with his wife, Gail, a writer and communications manager at Wachovia Corporation, describes their personal odyssey as an interracial couple in America. Together they have appeared on talk shows, led workshops and delivered lectures on ways to heal the racial divide in America.

Mark's latest book, African Women: Three Generations, published in April 1994, describes the struggles, relationships and triumphs of three South African women who were heroines in Kaffir Boy - his grandmother, mother, and sister Florah. Reviewers have described the book as "vivid", "realistic," "moving," and "chilling, yet inspiring."

In September 1997, Mark completed a one year assignment as a White House Fellow at the Department of Education in Washington DC , where he helped implement President Clinton's education initiatives, including the America Reads Challenge, a nationwide tutoring campaign designed to help children read fluently by third grade. The 18 White House Fellows met regularly with members of the President's cabinet, Supreme Court Justices, member of Congress and other national leaders, and traveled on fact finding missions to Panama and South Africa.

He has recently completed his first work of fiction - a thriller set against the politically and racially tense backdrop of post apartheid South Africa. The book's title, Ubuntu, is a Zulu word that means 'soul' or 'the quality of being human.' His latest work of non-fiction, published in June 2000 by Simon & Schuster, is titled Miriam's Song and tells the true story of a young South African girl growing up amid the turmoil and violence that preceded the end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election.

Mark is also the founder of the Magdalene Mathabane Scholarship Fund, which pays tuition and buys uniforms for orphaned and needy children in Alexandra, South Africa.

Visit http://www.mathabane.com/ to review articles and reviews, read first chapters and order Mark Mathabane's books.