Devin Scillian
Devin Scillian (/ˈskɪljən/ SKIL-yən; born January 11, 1963) is an American journalist, country singer and children's author.[1] His seventeen books include the national bestseller A Is For America (2001), Fibblestax (2000), and Memoirs of a Goldfish (2010) which won the Wanda Gag Award as the nation's best "read aloud" book. His most recent book is Memoirs of a Parrot illustrated by Tim Bowers, published by Sleeping Bear Press in 2016. He's co-written two books with his wife, Corey. "One Kansas Farmer," illustrated by Doug Bowles, was released in 2009. Their previous book, S Is For Sunflower, won the Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award[2] in 2007. Among his fans is former First Lady Laura Bush who invited him to read at the White House for the 2004 Easter Egg Roll.
As a broadcast journalist, Scillian rose to prominence for his marathon coverage of the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building from the anchor desk of NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in 1995. The coverage he led brought the station a Peabody Award. He currently anchors the primary newscasts for WDIV-TV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit. Three times he has won an Edward R. Murrow, one of the highest honors in journalism. His most recent Murrow Award was the 2012 award for writing. In 2009, his documentary on the search for the automotive fuel of the future, "Fuel's Gold," won for Best Documentary. He previously won the same award in 2007 for "The China Syndrome", a documentary about the crisis in American manufacturing. He hosts the Sunday morning news program "Flashpoint" on WDIV. He originally created "Flashpoint" at KFOR where it continues to air, currently hosted by Kevin Ogle.
While still a student at the University of Kansas, Scillian began his television career at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas. After graduating from the William Allen White School of Journalism at Kansas, Scillian worked from 1985 to 1986 at WAND-TV in Decatur, Illinois. He spent the next three years as the main anchor at KLTV in Tyler, Texas, before moving to KFOR in Oklahoma City in 1989.
His first published children's book was Fibblestax, the story of a boy who wins the right to name every single thing in the world. A is For America followed in 2001. It's serendipitous release just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks made it a national bestseller, especially popular among teachers. Also a songwriter and musician, Scillian released a companion CD of the same title. The A Is For America album is a child's country and western musical tour of American history.
Scillian's music has found success in Europe. His 2000 album, Tulsa, released on High Heel Records received little airplay in the United States, but several singles landed on the country charts in Europe including "Half Past You" which hit number one in Denmark in the spring of 2005. His most recent album, Letter from London, was recorded in Nashville and was released in 2016.
Scillian has appeared as a television journalist in several films, including Scream 4, The Double, and Mooz-lum.
