Background

Virginia DeBerry was born on July 6, 1949, in Wadesboro, North Carolina, United States.

Education

Virginia attended Fisk University and is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Career

Virginia began her career as a high school English teacher in Buffalo, New York. After almost 10 years in the classroom, she moved to New York and started a successful career as a plus size model. She was frequently featured in catalogs, advertising, magazines and appeared on several television programs including "The Today Show." She retired from modeling after two years and became Vice President of BB/LW, an agency for plus size and petite models as well as a spokeswoman for Hanes hosiery.

Donna and Virginia first met as plus size models vying for the same assignments. They were both featured in catalogs, ads, magazines and made national television appearances. Their modeling careers led to the opportunity to launch Maxima, a fashion and lifestyle magazine for plus-size women, where Virginia was editor-in-chief and Donna the managing editor.

When publication of Maxima ceased, Virginia and Donna decided to try writing a book together. Their first novel, Exposures, was published under the pseudonym Marie Joyce (for Donna Marie and Virginia Joyce). Their second book, written as DeBerry and Grant, was Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made. Their next novel, Far From the Tree, was a New York Times Bestseller, and Better Than I Know Myself received two Open Book Awards, and was included on the Best African-American fiction of 2004 lists of both Borders and Waldenbooks.

In 2008, DeBerry and Grant joined with partners Tyrha Lindsey and Tracey Kemble to form 4 Colored Girls Productions. They hoped to make a film of Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made, based on their 1997 novel, as their first independent feature. They were unhappy with the type of film Hollywood wanted and the film was never made.

Achievements

• Virginia DeBerry is known as a co-author of several novels, most famous of which include Far From the Tree, which was a New York Times Bestseller, and Better Than I Know Myself, which received two Open Book Awards, and was included on the Best African-American fiction of 2004 lists of both Borders and Waldenbooks.

Works

More photos

• book

  • What Doesn't Kill You

    (Finding her carefully controlled life spinning out of con...)

    2009
  • Exposures

    (As a glamorous, successful fashion photographer, adored b...)

    1990
  • Gotta Keep on Tryin'

    (From the bestselling authors of Tryin' to Sleep in the Be...)

    2008
  • Uptown

    (After twenty years away, Avery Lyons returns to New York ...)

    2010
  • Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made

    (Curl up in a chair and enter the lives of two unforgettab...)

    1996
  • Far from the Tree

    (Celeste English and Ronnie Frazier are sisters, but they ...)

    2010
  • Better Than I Know Myself

    (Carmen, Jewel, and Regina could not be more different. Wh...)

    2004

Views

Quotations: “One of the great jokes of life is that by the time you're old enough to recognize how little you know, all you can do is mop up the aftermath, dump it in a giant personal hazmat container and move on.”

Connections

friend, colleague:

Donna Grant

References

• Contemporary Authors A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields
  2008