Some authors devote their career fighting injustice, righting wrongs, and helping others.
Some authors use their savings for the good of humanity.
Who are they?
Here are some authors and their angelic side. There are many more that I didn't list.
Humanitarians:
Nora Roberts (Of Blood And Bone) created the humanitarian organization, the Nora Roberts Foundation, focused on literacy and the arts, and helping children in need.
She has worked with Habitat for Humanity.
She has donated several millions to her cause.
www.noraroberts.com/
Jonathan and Faye Kellerman (Over The Edge & The Ritual Bath) offer grant funds to organizations combating illiteracy, poverty and child cruelty. The foundation helps Jewish organizations, International issues, and children’s hospitals.
John Grisham (The Runaway Jury) supports the organization Ubuntu Africa. Ubuntu is a computer system that defends literacy and ethical practices in Africa.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series) founded the international children's organization Lumos. It helps orphans find a good home.
She wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them as part of a two-book pair of Harry Potter schoolbooks. Proceeds went to Comic Relief, a charity that tries to eliminate poverty.
https://www.jkrowling.com/charity/we-are-lumos/
James Patterson (Middle School: From Hero to Zero) has donated more than one million to literacy programs and partners with the Scholastic Reading Club.
Activists:
Born in 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe is a celebrated anti abolitionist best known for her anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. The novel changed the world by igniting feelings of outrage at slavery. It played a significant role in the Civil War and has had a great impact on American history.
Gabriela Mistral was a Chilean writer, poet, diplomat, educator, and humanist. She was the first female Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. Her work as a humanitarian transformed the education systems in Chile as well as in Mexico.
Octavia Butler (Kindred) broke down barriers of race, sex, class, and genre with her writing. She was the first science fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She gave rise to a new genre: Afrofuturism. The genre imagines a Black and brown culture based either on futurism or on ancestral values.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/octavia-butler-s-legacy-impact-afrofuturism-celebrated-n553126
Alice Walker was the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. She wrote The Color Purple, which explored issues facing African-American women, including racism, misogyny, sexism, and violence.
Mark Twain was an ardent anti-imperialist. He firmly supported abolition, civil rights and women’s rights (including suffrage). He said, “I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature... but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him.” He also gave financial support to African-Americans and women who needed it (including Helen Keller).
Judy Blume (The Pain & The Great One) created a safe space for girls to talk about taboo subjects. She founded The Kids Fund. She fought against book censorship. She wrote, “But it’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.”
http://www.judyblume.com/
Tolstoy pleaded the cause of peasants in Russia. He wrote about them, worked with them in the fields, and spent time listening to them. In 1848, Tolstoy opened schools for the children of his serfs and gave his serfs a chance to earn land.
https://www.rbth.com/arts/2013/03/24/tolstoy_and_changes_in_the_russian_education_system_23161
https://www.rbth.com/literature/2013/03/20/how_tolstoy_wanted_to_reform_russian_education_24069.html
King (Castle Rock) created the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation initially to help artists who couldn’t work due to health problems. In 2011, King’s radio stations raised $70,000 through donations to help pay for heating for the people in Maine. He also brought attention on America’s income inequality. He said, “My wife and I give away roughly $4 million a year to libraries, local fire departments that need updated lifesaving equipment (Jaws of Life tools are always a popular request), schools, and a scattering of organizations that underwrite the arts... All fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough.”
https://www.stephenking.com/
James Patterson (Alex Cross Series) launched the website ReadKiddoRead.com so adults could easily locate the best books for kids. He encourages literacy and gives large donations to bookstores to build kids’ sections. In 2012, he teamed with Operation Gratitude, Books for Heroes, the Peerless Bookstore and Feed the Children to donate 200,000 of his books to military members stationed in the U.S. and Afghanistan.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/15/james-patterson-donate-troops_n_1347815.html
Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin, The Handmaid’s Tale) has financially supported many organizations:
• 21st Century Leaders
• Aid Still Required
• Artists Against Racism
• Bird Studies Canada
• Markets Initiative
• National Literacy Trust
• PEN
• Whatever It Takes
Her work reflects her fights: Feminism, anti-imperialism, and environmental concerns.
https://chapter16.org/imagining-the-future-but-not-predicting-it/
Neil Gaiman (Caroline, The Graveyard Book) helps refugees. He charges speaking fees for events, and then donates to good causes. Gaiman said, “When I get money like this, I put it back out again. In this case, 25% of what I get goes to a social/abuse charity, and the other 75% goes to an author/literature/library related charity program.”
https://donate.unhcr.org/int-en/neil-gaiman
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2016/12/a-huge-thank-you.htmljournal.neilgaiman.com/2016/12/a-huge-thank-you.html
George R.R.Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire Series) is very generous with his fans and charities. He has auctioned numerous “Game of Thrones” memorabilia in favor of charities.
http://www.windsofwinterrelease.com/george-r-r-martin-charity-auctions/
Isabel Allende (The Stories of Eva Luna) created the Isabel Allende Foundation to support women. She granted life-saving and life-changing to more than 100 foundations.
http://www.isabelallende.com/
Sources:
"10 Famous Authors Who Remind Us That Great Writers Can Also Be Decent Human Beings."
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/09/nice-famous-authors-_n_4038737.html
Bailey, Lauren. “25 Writers Who Changed the World.” http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/25-writers-who-changed-the-world/
Trombetta, Sadie. “13 Female Authors Who Have Broken Barriers, In Honor Of Women's History Month.” https://www.bustle.com/p/5-new-short-story-collections-to-read-when-you-dont-have-time-to-finish-a-whole-novel-8990348
Grant, Megan. "Write to Give: 7 Charitable Authors." http://beyondwords.life/authors-giving-back/