Heidi Durrow is a best-selling author of the book The Girl Who Fell from the Sky. She is also the host to an award winning weekly podcast entitled “Mixed Chicks Chat” which focuses on issues of being racially mixed.
Durrow is the daughter of a Danish immigrant and an African-American Air Force military man. She grew up in part overseas in Turkey, Germany, and Denmark. In 1980, her family settled in Portland, Oregon. Upon graduation, she attended Stanford University and majored in English. While at Stanford, she wrote a weekly column for The Stanford Daily. In 1991, she graduated with Honors. She continued her education at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and received a M.S. in 1992. After, she then attended Yale Law School and received her J.D. in 1995.
Heidi Durrow worked as a litigator for a few years and then in1997, decided to pursue a career in writing. For several years, Durrow attempted to publish her manuscript for The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, but was unsuccessful. Her luck would soon change after Barak Obama was elected President. With the subject of his mixed race heritage as a topic on the forefront, Durrow’s book which has a mixed race protagonist, became something of interest to publishers.
In 2008, Durrow became a founder of the now defunct Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. The Festival highlighted stories of the mixed experience including stories about biracial identity, transracially adopted families, and interracial and intercultural relationships and friendships. The Festival presented films, readings, and workshops. Durrow created a new festival called the Mixed Remixed Festival which premiered June 14, 2014.
In 2010, Durrow was named a Power 100 Leader by Ebony Magazine, and was nominated for a 2011 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Debut.
Nadia Wooten, Project RACE Vice President
Source: https://mixedamericanlife.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/the-mixed-experience-podcast-heidi-w-durrow/