Lalita Tademy

Lalita Tademy (born 1948) is an American author best known for her works of historical non-fiction, including non-fiction and feminist works set in her family genealogy in 1950s. Her work, Cane River was first published in 2001, and her works have been based on history and black women. Known as an American-African, Tademy has been influenced by the misconception in the black in the history of the United States.

Born in Berkeley, California, to Nathan Green Tademy Jr. and Willie Dee Billes, she began her honors program in Howard University in Washington DC and after two years, she went to the University of California, Los Angeles. Tademy faced racial divide because she was black, and academic challenges in America. She earned her BSc in psychology in 1970 and subsequently, her master's degree in business administration in 1970 and 1972 respectively from same University in Los Angeles. After working until retirement, she began writing full-time and self reading what was called 'genealogy' withing her family's generation. Her writings achieved major critical and commercial success beginning with Cane River (2001), Red River (2006), and Citizen's Creek (2014), which have been described by Jabari Asim as "evidence of her researches". Her debut was listed in San Francisco's One City One Book in 2007 and selected for The Oprah Winfrey Show. From 2001 to 2015, it was the standard novel for incoming students in Stanford University.

Feminism, human relationship, motherhood, and Mother to daughter relationship has been Tademy's theme evident to her writings and researches. Her other works has appeared on People Magazine, O Magazine, More Magazine, Good Housekeeping, The Today Show, The Early Show, and CNN. She has also been featured as a keynote speaker for National Book Festival conducted by the Library of Congress, California Governor's Conference for Women, Black Caucus conference, and the Louisiana Library Association.