AustLit

Raised in Los Angeles, Jeffrey M. Eliott was an academic and freelance journalist who specialised in American politics and civil rights. During his career he wrote and edited more than 150 books and 550 articles, reviews and interviews, while his work appears in more than 250 publications worldwide. He was also nominated for more than 125 scholarly and journalistic awards.

A specialist interviewer he met with dozens of world leaders, including former U.S. President William J. Clinton, Cuban President Fidel Castro, South African Nobel Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, writer Maya Angelou, and myriad other newsmakers, political leaders and well-known figures in the arts, sports and entertainment.

Prior to his death Professor Eliott chaired North Carolina Central University's political science department for just under five years.