Biography
Devin Scillian is an American journalist and children's author. His fifteen books include the national bestseller A Is For America (2001), Fibblestax (2000), and Memoirs of a Goldfish (2010) which won the Wanda Gag Award as the nation's best "read aloud" book. His most recent book is Memoirs of a Hamster illustrated by Tim Bowers, published by Sleeping Bear Press in 2013. He's co-written two books with his wife, Corey. "One Kansas Farmer," illustrated by Doug Bowles, was released in 2009. Their previous book, S Is For Sunflower, won the Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award in 2007. Among his fans is former First Lady Laura Bush who invited him to read at the White House for the 2004 Easter Egg Roll. As a broadcast journalist, Scillian rose to prominence for his marathon coverage of the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building from the anchor desk of NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in 1995. The coverage he led brought the station a Peabody Award. He anchors the primary newscasts for WDIV-TV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit. Three times he has won an Edward R. Murrow, one of the highest honors in journalism. His most recent Murrow Award was the 2012 award for writing. In 2009, his documentary on the search for the automotive fuel of the future, "Fuel's Gold," won for Best Documentary. He previously won the same award in 2007 for "The China Syndrome", a documentary about the crisis in American manufacturing. He hosts the Sunday morning news program "Flashpoint" on WDIV. He originally created "Flashpoint" at KFOR where it continues to air, hosted by Kevin Ogle. While still a student at the University of Kansas, Scillian began his television career at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas. After graduating from the William Allen White School of Journalism at Kansas, Scillian worked from 1985 to 1986 at WAND-TV in Decatur, Illinois. He spent the next three years as the main anchor at KLTV in Tyler, Texas, before moving to KFOR in Oklahoma City in 1989. His first published children's book was Fibblestax, the story of a boy who wins the right to name every single thing in the world. A is For America followed in 2001. It's serendipitous release just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks made it a national bestseller, especially popular among teachers. Also a songwriter and musician, Scillian released a companion CD of the same title. The A Is For America album is a child's country and western musical tour of American history. Scillian has appeared as a television journalist in several films, including Scream 4, The Double (2011 film), and Mooz-lum.
