Clifford Mason is a celebrated playwright, actor, director, and critic who has been involved in the theater for four decades and has written 34 plays. His 1967 New York Times essay “Why Does White America Love Sidney Poitier So?” established him as an uncompromising critic of popular culture. He is also the author of The African-American Bookshelf: 50 Must-Reads, a history of Black literature from colonial times to the present. He resides in New York City.