John Fox is an anthropologist and author of The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game (Harper Perennial, 2102), on which Bounce is based. John received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University where his research focused on the social role and ritual meaning of the ancient Mesoamerican ball game best known as ulama. Fox conducted field research in Honduras, where he excavated a number of ancient ball courts, examining how play and sport played an integral role in the ritual life of ancient Mesoamericans and were used to assert and negotiate political power over thousands of years. Building on this expertise, Fox went on to investigate the survival of ulama in a handful of small villages in Sinaloa, Mexico, resulting in a Smithsonian magazine article. He has been a commentator on NPR and is the author of numerous articles in Outside, Salon, Huffington Post and other publications. He has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, MSNBC’s The Andrea Mitchell Show, and has been interviewed for PRI’s Marketplace, On Point, and other radio programs. In 2010, Fox was awarded a fellowship to the MacDowell Colony.
John Fox