For Immediate Release
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, daughter of Richard Pryor, is a scholar of the n-word in new book Something We Said
NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts, June 2, 2026 — Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor's new book Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me peels back the curtain on the life of the iconic comedian and interrogates the most perplexing word in the American lexicon, a word he helped popularize. Part history, part memoir about growing up as Richard Pryor's daughter, it draws on her deep understanding of the history of race and language in the United States, and the role her father played in shaping that story.
The book grew out of a moment in Professor Elizabeth Pryor's classroom, when a white student quoted the n-word, repeating a line from Blazing Saddles, a film her father co-wrote. In that moment, she was forced to confront her complicated relationship with her father, her biracial identity, and the word that was a trademark of her father's comedy in the 1970s.
Praise for Something We Said
"Moving, courageous, and intellectually rich." (Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop)
"A moving reflection on family, belonging, and language's power to wound and heal." (Kirkus Review)
"A dexterous and deeply vulnerable symphony of memoir, critique, and celebrity biography." (Damon Young, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker)
"Tackling the intersections of race, fatherhood, and the most taboo word in the English language, the result is honest, vulnerable, and beautiful." (Kellie Carter Jackson, author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance)
"A coming-of-age story so brave, so intimate, so full of love’s humor and heartbreak that it stirs the soul." (Paula J. Giddings, author of Ida: A Sword Among Lions)
Selected Coverage
About the Author
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor is a professor of history at Smith College where she teaches courses on race, slavery and her father, comedic legend Richard Pryor. She is the award-winning author of the article “The Etymology of [N-Word]: Resistance, Language, and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North” and a 2016 book Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War. Her viral TED talk on why it's hard to talk about the n-word has been viewed over two million times. Something We Said, Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me is Professor Pryor’s latest book (37 Ink an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2026). The book is a braided narrative that seamlessly integrates the history of the n-word with her own story of growing up half Black, half Jewish and all Pryor. It peels back the curtain on the life of the iconic comedian and interrogates the most perplexing word in the American lexicon, a word he helped popularize.
Book Details
Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me. Author: Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor. Published by 37 Ink, an imprint of Simon & Schuster | June 2, 2026. Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold.
Film Adaptation in Development
The film rights to Something We Said have been optioned by Latigo Films and Inaugural Entertainment, who are developing a feature adaptation chronicling Elizabeth's decades-long journey of coming to know her father. The project draws in part on a newly discovered collection of Richard Pryor's handwritten notebooks, kept during his relationship with Elizabeth's mother, containing the notes and unfiltered reflections behind his legendary routines.
Producers attached include David Lipper, Robert A. Daly Jr., Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, and Julie Merson. A screenwriter and director are expected to be announced in the coming months.
Media Contact
Kristin Mendes
Phone: 917-488-6662
Email: kristin@kristinmendes.com
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