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Cliff Roles interviews Jeff Shaara

From our boy Cliff Roles:

Jeff Shaara, a descendant of Italian immigrants, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey (”Shaara” was originally spelled “Sciarra”). He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Criminology. From age 16, Jeff operated a rare coin business, first out of his home, then in a retail store. After moving to Tampa, Jeff became one of the most widely known coin and precious-metals dealers in Florida. In 1988, Jeff’s father, Michael Shaara, died, and Jeff made the decision to sell his business, and take over the management of his father’s estate.

In 1993, the film “Gettysburg” was released, which was based on his father’s classic novel, The Killer Angels. After the critical and commercial success of the film, Jeff was approached about the possibility of continuing the story, finding someone to write a prequel and sequel to The Killer Angels. After some considerable soul-searching, Jeff decided to try to tackle the project himself. The decision was difficult in many ways, but most challenging because Jeff had no previous experience as a writer.

In February, 2003, the major motion picture “GODS AND GENERALS”, based on Jeff’s first book, was released by Warner Brothers.

For some time, Jeff had been researching a different kind of project, which came to fruition in 2006. Jeff Shaara’s Civil War Battlefields, his only non-fiction work, is a unique and personal tour across ten of this country’s most valuable pieces of hallowed ground. All royalties from this book are being donated directly to battlefield preservation. (In 2007, Jeff was named to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Civil War Preservation Trust.)

Jeff’s eighth book, The Rising Tide, was published in November 2006. The story is the first of a trilogy following an extraordinary cast of characters through the European theater of the Second World War. That book reached #8 on the New York Times bestseller list. The second in the series, The Steel Wave, follows key characters through the Normandy invasion. Released in May, 2008, it was also a New York Times bestseller. The third of the trilogy, “NO LESS THAN VICTORY” was released November 3, 2009. That story, Jeff’s tenth book, moves to the end of the war in Europe, through the Battle of the Bulge and the fall of Hitler, and has quickly become Jeff’s ninth bestseller.

Jeff is already at work on the research for a fourth volume that deals with the end of the Second World War in the Pacific. The expected completion date is spring, 2011 (or sooner).

After many years spent in New York City and the mountains of Montana, Jeff has returned to Florida, and resides in Sarasota.

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