Armistead Maupin

Armistead Maupin, born on May 13, 1944, is an American writer known for his series of novels called Tales of the City, set in San Francisco. He was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane and Armistead Jones Maupin. Maupin's great-great-grandfather, Congressman Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, was a Confederate general and a railroad executive during the American Civil War. Raised in Raleigh, Maupin attended Ravenscroft School and graduated from Needham Broughton High School in 1962. He furthered his education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he wrote for The Daily Tar Heel. Prior to his writing career, Maupin worked at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, where he received a patriotic award nominated by future U.S. Senator Jesse Helms.