"When I discovered the public library I knew I was home."

Born  in New York City and raised in the Central New Jersey towns of  Plainfield, Piscataway and Dunellen, Josiah Howard was an energetic  child of the "three network" seventies: fascinated with the decade's  most popular singers, actors, TV shows and movies.

The Journey

A graduate of New York University, Josiah Howard’s professional writing and research career began at The Village Voice where he spent a year assisting esteemed film and media critic Andrew ("Politics and Cinema") Sarris. Following his tenure at The Voice Howard moved to Parade, America’s most widely-read news-magazine. At Parade he spent two years as Photo Researcher providing the imagery that  accompanied articles, columns and cover stories that ran the gamut of  celebrities, politicians, sports figures and religious leaders.

At the same time that Mr. Howard was at Parade, he was also a regular contributor to the music magazines Record Mirror (Britain) and Top Spot (America); publications that gave him direct access to the era's most popular recording artists. 

Mr. Howard's first book, Donna Summer: Her Life and Music,  a comprehensive work that included interviews with producers,  songwriters and intimates, offered readers an unfiltered  behind-the-scenes look at the late singer/songwriter and five time  Grammy Award winner. DiscoMusic.com called the  book "... a don't miss page turner that contains information that even  die-hard Donna fans will find fascinating." While CD Review exclaimed "Who knew Donna's story was so varied and special... Howard  has uncovered a wealth of information on America's undisputed 'Queen of  Disco'." In 2013, Howard was featured extensively in the   critically-acclaimed European documentary film "Donna Summer: Hot Stuff."

Mr. Howard's second book, Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide (now in a fourth printing) provided readers with a broad and sweeping  overview of America's one and only African-American motion picture boom.  A compendium of of more than 250 film reviews as well as Q & A  interviews with actors, directors and producers, Blaxploitation Cinema is "required reading" at several university and film schools. Film Review cited the book as "... a mine of superbly collated information... a treasure trove on an under-examined film genre," while American Library Journal observed "... truth in advertising; an essential addition to your film book library." 

Today, Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide remains the primary source on the genre; cited in more than 100 books, magazines, newspapers, websites and scholarly works.

Following the publication of Blaxpoitation Cinema,  Mr. Howard became a coveted guest speaker on the genre; presenting his  lectures, PowerPoints and dissertations everywhere from the Shomburg Center for African American Studies in New York City to California's UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

The Brazilian Minister of Culture commissioned Mr. Howard to write a 10,000-word program, and then travel to the country to host the month-long Tela-Negra Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In 2020 Mr. Howard curated and presented the Black Then: Blaxploitation Cinema Turns Fifty! film series in NYC.

Mr. Howard's other blaxploitation speaking engagements include the Say It Loud: Cinema in the Age of Black Power, 1966 -1988 film festival, the 100th anniversary Celebration of the Ohio Library system, at which he presented the Cleveland, Ohio-filmed Up Tight! (1969), and the You Won't Bleed Me: How Blaxploitation Posters Defined Cool and Delivered Profits exhibition at Poster House Museum in NYC. Mr Howard has written the press books and DVD/Blu-ray booklets for several blaxploitation films including Foxy Brown and Blacula: The Complete Collection.

His  ten-part series of director interviews, which included Jack Hill, Larry  Cohen and Cirio Santiago, were published in America and Britain and  added to the Quentin Tarantino Archives.

Best Selling Author

Josiah Howard's first association with Cher came In 2008 when he was commissioned to write a 3,000-word program for the artist's three-year residency (2008-2011) at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The best-selling book Cher: Strong Enough followed. A compendium of more than 200 interviews, Cher: Strong Enough offered readers a rare, unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at the Oscar, Grammy and Emmy-winning singer/actress/cultural icon. Liz Smith (Variety, New York Daily News) called it "a highly entertaining look at the one-name pop music goddess... a labor of love," while the Huffington Post observed "fascinating, meticulously detailed... Howard leaves no bugle bead unturned."  

Following the New York Post's banner headline "Cher Hired Aid to Convince Fans She Was Female: Book," Cher: Strong Enough entered the international news cycle and became a best-seller (reprinted four times in America and twice in Portuguese for the Brazilian market). The Post excerpt appeared in more than twenty countries including Poland, the UK, Spain, Australia and the Netherlands.

Along  with lecturing internationally Mr. Howard has appeared on an array of television  and radio broadcasts including The Today Show, Entertainment Tonight, Unsung, Autopsy, Breaking the Band, NPR, and American Radio Networks. Interviews with Mr. Howard have appeared in The New York Post, The Los Angeles Times, People, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post and The Hollywood Reporter.