James MacKillop (author)

James MacKillop (born May 31, 1939, Pontiac, Michigan) is an American scholar of Celtic and Irish studies, an arts journalist and an academic. A child of Gaelic-speaking Highland emigrants, he is also a near relative of St Mary MacKillop of Australia (1842-1909).
Early life and education.
Raised in Southeast Michigan, MacKillop attended the University of Detroit High School (now University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy) and Wayne State University (BA, MA in English). At Wayne he wrote for the Daily Collegian and captained the University team on the GE College Bowl television program. He received a Ph. D. from Syracuse University and was a Visiting Fellow in Celtic Languages at Harvard University. He has lived in Upstate New York since the late sixties.
Career.
For more than forty years, MacKillop was a dedicated classroom teacher, winning the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. . Appointments included Michigan Technological University,
Onondaga Community College, State University of New York College at Cortland and the Newhouse School of Public Communications. He also held a year’s appointment as Professeur Invité at the University of Rennes 1 in France.
Separate from the classroom, MacKillop has been a professional author much longer and continues to publish. He has published more than two million words in nine books, dozens of scholarly articles and thousands of newspaper items. His best-known book is probably "The Dictionary of Celtic Mythology" (Oxford), once the top seller in Celtic scholarship. "Myth & Legends of the Celts" (Penguin) is widely cited. His "Irish Literature: A Reader" (Syracuse), with Maureen Murphy has long been a favorite in university Irish literature courses. "Speaking of Words" (Holt, Rinehart) was co-edited with Donna Woolfolk Cross, later author of the international best-seller "Pope Joan" (Crown). Writing for newspapers since college years, MacKillop has been most associated with the Syracuse New Times , where he has been the drama critic for decades, winning the Syracuse Press Club Award for criticism sixteen times.
Joining as a graduate student, MacKillop has long been active in the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS), serving on the Executive Committee for ten years, organizing three national conventions (Syracuse, 1989; Belfast-Queens U., 1995; Albany, 1997), and serving as president, 1995-97. His candid, fact-checked "Unauthorized History of the ACIS " is available for free download at www.jamesmackillop.com/book/total.pdf