Tonya Lewis Lee, Esq. received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1988 and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1991. After practicing law at the firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans and Doyle in Washington, D.C., where she primarily serviced Gannett Co., Inc. on corporate and First Amendment issues, she turned to writing and producing for television. Since 1998, she has produced Black History Month interstitials for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite featuring various celebrities including Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Whoopi Goldberg and Queen Latifah.

In 2002 she co-authored the book Please Baby Please with her husband Spike Lee and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. She also produced the animated Just for Me interstitial Please Baby Please for Nickelodeon.

Currently she is the Executive Producer of the documentary film, I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education honoring the fiftieth anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education. She is also an Executive Producer for Miracle’s Boys, an episodic series for Noggin/The N, due to air February 2005.

GOTHAM DIARIES is Lee’s first foray into novel writing. Hyperion publishes the book in July 2004.

Outspoken on the issues of women and race, Lee has written for GLAMOUR magazine and appeared on LIFETIME television to discuss race issues. She also serves on the boards of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Children for Children Foundation. She is a member of the New York Bar.

Lee lives in New York City with her husband and two children, ages 6 and 9. 

Credit: tonyalewislee.com