Alan Sharavsky

Alan Sharavsky, author of "Boarding School Bastard," has defied the odds. From a childhood in an orphanage for fatherless boys, he launched an advertising and marketing career, during which he created award-winning commercials and content for Tylenol, McDonald's, Splenda, Johnson & Johnson, and J.G. Wentworth. Prior to forming his ad agency, Alan was Marketing Director for the Philadelphia 76ers, where he worked with NBA legends Dr. J. and Charles Barkley. He's also written and produced shows and articles for Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and NPR affiliate WHYY. He’s also co-authored and ghostwritten business and technology books.

But before that, Alan grew up in Girard College, sent there by his deaf and widowed mother, where he experienced emotional and sexual abuse, anti-Semitism, bullying, and threats from guardians. Leavening tragedy with humor, "Boarding School Bastard reveals a world we'd prefer to avoid but is too riveting to ignore. It takes us behind the walls of the prestigious boarding school in the early to late Sixties. To understand how hope and friendship overcome grief and fear, this stunning debut memoir is essential reading.