John Green

Green in 2015, photo by Debby Wong/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: John Michael Green

Place of Birth: Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

Date of Birth: August 24, 1977

Ethnicity: English, Irish, German, Scottish, Northern Irish/Scots-Irish, French, Dutch, Swiss-German

John Green is an American author, YouTube content creator, and podcaster. He has written the books Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson; The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down, and the non-fiction The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet and Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection. Many of his books have been adapted into films. He also co-created and co-hosted YouTube series Vlogbrothers and Crash Course, with his brother, vlogger, YouTuber, stand-up comedian, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician Hank Green (William Henry Green II); hosted the YouTube channel of Mental Floss, and co-presented The Art Assignment, with his wife, art museum curator, educator, and author Sarah Urist Green. John and his brother are professionally known as The Green Brothers.

He is the son of Sydney, who worked for the Healthy Community Initiative, and Mike Green, who was executive director of The Nature Conservancy of Florida. John was partly raised in Michigan, then Birmingham, Alabama, and finally Orlando, Florida. He was raised Episcopalian. John and Sarah have two children.

Some family trees state that, on his mother’s side, John is a descendant of John Bryant, who was born, c. 1775, in Campbell, Virginia, and was of at least partial Native American ancestry. It is not clear whether this ancestry has been verified/documented.

John’s paternal grandfather was William Henry Green (the son of Joseph Martindale “Joe” Green and Beatrice Dorothy Storch). William was born in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. Joseph was born in Rush County, Indiana, the son of William Frame Green and Maude Blanche Blount. Beatrice was born in Pennville, Wayne County, Indiana, the daughter of Henry C. Storch, whose parents were from Bavaria, Germany; and of Mary Catherine Oster, who was an ethnic German, from Alsace-Lorraine.

John’s paternal grandmother was Mary Josephine “Jo” Crosby (the daughter of John Michael Crosby and Margaret Mary Topping). Mary was born in Denver, Colorado. John was born in Indiana, to Irish parents, Michael Crosby and Bridget/Bridgett Dolan. Margaret was born in Michigan, the daughter of Frederick Thomas Topping and Josephine Grimes, whose parents were Irish.

John’s maternal grandfather was Henry Calvin Goodrich (the son of Charles Landess/Landess Goodrich and Maude Sydney Baxter). Henry was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee. Charles was born in Tennessee, the son of John T. Goodrich and Mary Rose Landess. Maude was born in Tennessee, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Baxter and Sarah Matilda Gowen.

John’s maternal grandmother was Billie Grace Walker (the daughter of William Roy Walker and Lillian Grace Fuqua). Billie was born in Milan, Tennessee. William was born in Tennessee, the son of William Thomas Walker and Lillian Beatrice Akin. Lillian was born in Tennessee, the daughter of William Giles Fuqua and Margarette “Maggie” Pratt.

Sources: Genealogies of John’s paternal grandparents, William Henry Green and Mary Josephine “Jo” (Crosby) Green – http://findagrave.com

Obituary of John’s maternal grandfather, Henry Calvin Goodrich – http://obits.al.com

Obituary of John’s maternal grandmother, Billie Grace (Walker) Goodrich – http://obits.al.com

Information on the Bryant family – http://dailycitizen.news