meet the author…
will on November 1st, 2008
Will McNair was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His father was a reverend at one of Inglewood’s premier churches, and his mother a long-time veteran of Pacific Bell. Wanting better opportunities for him and his sister, Will’s parents passed on an education in their South Central neighborhood and enrolled him at Beverly Hills High School. In a world where nothing was like home, Will struggled to fit in amongst his posh peers, all the while questioning his sexuality. He later attended the University of California at Berkeley where he found a passion for performance. Will joined the California Marching Band and became the school’s first Black drum major. He was also president of the Black Business Association on campus for two years. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in American Studies.
In 2002, Will McNair moved to New York City. He began documenting his journey in a blog, Evolution of a Man. After working for a year at Citibank, he was offered a position at Google. For four and a half years, Will worked as an Account and Sales Training Coordinator for the advertising company; but also dedicated time outside of the office to his passion for writing and entertainment. In 2006, he began writing for urban gay magazines such as UNeQ and The Seven Magazine; and in 2007, he joined his friends in creating, producing and co-hosting, “The & Show,” a YouTube internet talk show with hundreds of weekly viewers.
Believing in the motto “Reach One, Teach One,” in 2008 Will collected his personal experiences and drafted them in a book. In Evolution Of A Man: A Journal of Self-Discovery, Will openly and candidly explores who he is as a person of greatness, while struggling to let go of the past and move into the future. With his first book, Will hopes to introduce a new type of Black male to mainstream media, and help, through understanding, bridge the gap that lies in the African American community between the gay and the straight.
