A Well Thought Out Scream
Rare is it that any author will have one of his books described as the definitive work on a particular subject, but such a distinction has been bestowed by critics on no less than four books written by James Riordan. The New York Times Bestseller Break on Through, Riordan’s biography of Doors lead singer Jim Morrison, has not only been called “the most objective, thorough and professional Morrison biography” by the Times Book Review but also named as one of the Ten All Time Best Rock Biographies by Amazon.com. Riordan’s The Platinum Rainbow (written with Bob Monaco) was called “One of the best how-to books ever written” by the Los Angeles Daily News and “The ultimate career book on the music industry” by Recording, Engineer & Producer. Last March, critics described Riordan’s The Bishop of Rwanda as “one of the most important books you’ll ever read.” and now The Coming of the Walrus, Riordan’s novel about the 60s is being called “the definitive book on the era” and “a hilarious tale of a harrowing search for the greatest truth of all”. The author of forty seven books, James Riordan’s career began in the music industry where as a songwriter, manager, producer and concert promoter he worked with several well known artists. In 1976 he began writing a news-paper column on popular music, Rock-Pop, which he later syndicated. Riordan soon became one of America’s premier rock journalists with articles reaching millions of readers including those of Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, Circus, Music-ian, and newspapers like The Chicago Daily News, The Kansas City Star, and many others. His reputation for relating on a one-to-one level soon led to interviews with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Zappa, The Doobie Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Barbra Mandrell, Crosby, Stills & Nash and countless others. In 1978 Riordan moved to Los Angeles and along with producer Bob Monaco wrote The Platinum Rainbow which became the largest selling book ever written about the music business. The guide to “succeeding in the music business without selling your soul” was praised by Variety ,The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Las Vegas Sun, The Minneapolis Tribune, Billboard, Record World and many more as “one of the best how-to books ever written”. Interviews with James Riordan were aired on over 1200 radio stations and numerous television talk shows. Riordan then turned his attention to television collaborating with Pulitzer Prize winner Jason Miller on a mini-series for net-work television called The Irish and a movie of the week for CBS entitled Bless Me Father. In June 1991, William Morrow & Co. published Break On Through which The New York Times called “the most objective, thorough, and professional Morrison biography yet”. Riordan also worked as a consultant on Oliver Stone’s film of Morrison’s life, The Doors, which led to his writing Stone’s biography. Published by Hyperion/Disney in December 1995, Entertainment Weekly called STONE “an unflinching biography...enough spectacle to fill a month of daytime-TV talk shows.” The New York Post said reading the book was like “the sensory overload of watching all of Oliver Stone’s movies back to back.” Riordan was interviewed by Inside Edition, People Magazine, The Tom Snyder Show, and many others. From 1997-2000, Riordan created and co-starred in a local television program, Kankakee Valley Prime Time, which won six Crystal Communicators, three Tellys, and earned Riordan a Chicago/ Midwest Emmy Nomination for Writing the program. In the summer of 1999, James Riordan wrote, directed and starred in Maddance, an hour long dramatic project shot which won Crystal Communicators for Drama, Writing, Acting and Directing. In 2000, he wrote a screenplay on the life of actress Ingrid Bergman for Lancit Films and began work on his first novel, The Coming of the Walrus. On April 9, 2000, James’ 16 year old son, Jeremiah, was killed as a passenger in an accident that involved three drunk drivers. Shortly after this, James founded Make it Stick which works to warn teens of the dangers of substance abuse and publishes a magazine distributed to high school students. In 2001, he founded Jeremiah’s – A Place to be Yourself to give teens a place to hang out away from the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Force to close by its incredible growth rate, Jeremiah’s was recognized as one of the fastest growing and most successful teen centers in the United States. In 2004, Toastmasters International named Riordan Communicator of the Year for Central Illinois, the YMCA gave him their Service to Youth Award and the United Way named him the Outstanding Volunteer of Kankakee County. Returning to writing, Riordan completed The Coming of the Walrus and then went to Africa to write The Bishop of Rwanda, due out in October of 2006 (with an intro by "Purpose Driven Life" author Rick Warren). He then wrote the first book in a new teen novel series with Bill Myers (The Enemy Strikes) and a new adult novel, The Kill Switch. ). In 2011, James Riordan won the Pledge For Life Harold Award for his work with area youth. In 2012, Lee and Shane Stanley (Gridiron Gang) optioned Maddance and Apothecary Films optioned The Kill Switch for movie rights. Longtime friend Creed Bratton (The Office) included a song he and Riordan had written together Pablo on his 2013 album Tell Me About It, Riordan joined the Mancow Syndicated Television and Radio show in 2014 and was seen and heard across America on a weekly basis. In 2018-2019 he developed a book projects with Donna Rice, Palmer Tolly and Jojo Sayson, two screenplays and a cable series. In 2020 he joined Grand Bergen with noted producer/arranger Mark Hebert (Montreux Jazz Festival) and the two began working on a new CD, You Never See Them Coming. Riordan has also written seven private biographies and is included in Who’s Who in Entertainment , Who’s Who in Poetry and Contemporary Authors of America and in 2019 he was selected for the Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award along with Colin Powell and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In 2016 Riordan founded Kankakee County Renewed Opportunity with Sheriff Tim Bukowski, Circuit Court Judge Clark Erickson, Jaymie Simmon and others to reduce the area’s high recidivism rate by helping ex-offenders obtain decent jobs and better housing. For the past several years he has worked with KCRO Director Jasper Jones in developing the mentoring aspect of the program. In 2023 Amazon Books released Ready to Pop: The Rise of Mass Murder in American and a new edition of The Kill Switch. Riordan has also written seven private biographies and is included in Who’s Who in Entertainment, Who’s Who in Poetry and Contemporary Authors of America and in 2019 he was selected for the Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award along with Colin Powell and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In 2020 Riordan formed Grand Bergen with noted producer/arranger Mark Hébert (Montreux Jazz Festival). The group’s first CD was called You Never See Them Coming. See https://www.grandbergen.com and hear their latest release I Bet it All on You. Available on CDBaby, Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, and all the digital providers. Click “Follow” for notifications of future releases.
