Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield (born September 1, 1943) is an American author of historical fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays, including his 1995 novel The Legend of Bagger Vance and 2002 nonfiction book The War of Art.
Steven Pressfield
September 1, 1943
Port of Spain, Trinidad
Author
American
Historical fiction
Military fiction
Nonfiction
Early life[edit]
Pressfield was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943, while his father was stationed there, in the U.S. Navy.
Education[edit]
Pressfield graduated from Duke University in 1965. In 1966, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as an infantryman.[1][2]
Career[edit]
Pressfield was an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout, attendant in a mental hospital, fruit-picker in Washington state, and screenwriter.[2] His struggles to make a living as an author, including the period when he was homeless and living out of the back of his car, are detailed in his 2002 book The War of Art.[2]
Pressfield's first book, The Legend of Bagger Vance, which was loosely based on the Bhagavad Gita, was published in 1995, and was made into a 2000 film of the same name directed by Robert Redford and starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Matt Damon.[3]
His second novel, Gates of Fire (1998), is about the Spartans and the battle at Thermopylae.[4] It is taught at the U.S. Military Academy,[5] the United States Naval Academy, and the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico.[6][7]
In 2012, Pressfield launched the publishing house Black Irish Books with his agent Shawn Coyne.[8]
Filmography[edit]
Prior to publishing his first original works of fiction, Pressfield wrote several Hollywood screenplays including 1986's King Kong Lives, 1988's Above the Law starring Steven Seagal and directed by Andrew Davis, 1992's Freejack, a work of science fiction starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, and Anthony Hopkins, and 1993's Joshua Tree (a.k.a. Army of One) starring Dolph Lundgren and George Segal. Joshua Tree was directed by Academy Award and Bafta winning stuntman Vic Armstrong.
His novel The Legend of Bagger Vance was made into a 2000 film starring Matt Damon as the golf pro and Will Smith as his spiritual guide and was widely criticized for its use of the "Magical Negro" as a plot device.
Pressfield also appeared as one of the historians in The History Channel's 2007 documentary Last Stand of the 300 and a commentator on an episode of the History Channel's Decisive Battles series featuring Alexander the Great on July 30, 2004.[9]