Photo Content from Len Joy
Len Joy had an idyllic childhood, growing up in the gem of the Finger Lakes, Canandaigua, NY. His interests growing up involved sports. He went off to college with dreams of becoming a football hero and world famous novelist.Didn’t happen. He switched his major from English to Finance, quit the football team, but married one of the cheerleaders – Suzanne Sawada.
They moved to Chicago where Suzanne became a corporate lawyer and Len, with his MBA and CPA, became the auditing manager for U. S. Gypsum. Despite the thrill of auditing gypsum plants, Len wanted a different challenge.
He bought a manufacturing company in Arizona and commuted to Phoenix. Despite the travel, he managed to have three kids. While flying, he read hundreds of novels, which renewed his dream of becoming a world famous author.
In 2004 he wound down his business and started taking writing courses and participating in triathlons.
His first novel, AMERICAN PAST TIME was praised by KIRKUS as a “darkly nostalgic study of an American family through good times and bad, engagingly set against major events from the ‘50s to the ‘70s as issues of race simmer in the background…expertly written and well-crafted.”
His second novel, BETTER DAYS was described by FOREWORD Reviews as “a bighearted, wry, and tender novel that focuses on love and loyalty.” KIRKUS called it “a character-rich skillfully plotted Midwestern drama.”
AMERICAN PAST TIME and BETTER DAYS were awarded Gold and Silver Medals respectively in the 2019 Readers' Favorite Award Contest in the category of Fiction - Sports.
Today, Len is a nationally ranked triathlete and competes internationally representing the United States as part of TEAM USA.
JEANBOOKNERD PODCAST 2020: SEASON 2 EPISODE 17
GUEST: LEN JOY
Praise for EVERYONE DIES FAMOUS
"The collateral damage from a freak tornado rips the heart out of Small-Town, America. Who is left and what they reveal has the potential to be even more devastating. Can anyone survive the aftermath? Recommended." —Chanticleer Reviews 5 Stars!
Len Joy's Everyone Dies Famous is a clear-eyed examination of how we live in an uncertain world. By creating imminently understandable characters and skillfully linking them to a specific landscape, one that is so evocatively described, he shows us all the ways in which we're connected, how fragile those threads are. In clear prose, Joy does real work here. I'm grateful for it. —Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here
"...a striking depiction of small-town America at the dawn of the 21st century."
- KIRKUS Reviews
In the realistic small-town novel Everyone Dies Famous, citizens struggle to cope with their pasts and adapt to the future... a focused novel about regret and redemption. —FOREWORD REVIEWS
"The collateral damage from a freak tornado rips the heart out of Small-Town, America. Who is left and what they reveal has the potential to be even more devastating. Can anyone survive the aftermath? Recommended." —Chanticleer Reviews 5 Stars!
Len Joy's Everyone Dies Famous is a clear-eyed examination of how we live in an uncertain world. By creating imminently understandable characters and skillfully linking them to a specific landscape, one that is so evocatively described, he shows us all the ways in which we're connected, how fragile those threads are. In clear prose, Joy does real work here. I'm grateful for it. —Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here
"...a striking depiction of small-town America at the dawn of the 21st century."
- KIRKUS Reviews
In the realistic small-town novel Everyone Dies Famous, citizens struggle to cope with their pasts and adapt to the future... a focused novel about regret and redemption. —FOREWORD REVIEWS
Mr. Joy sweeps us headlong into the swirling fury of lives buffeted not only by hail, rain, and wind, but even more so by disappointment, disillusion, and regret. He captures both physical and emotional dread with inexorable intensity. —Joe Kilgore, author of Farmhouse in the Rain
It's July 2003 and the small town of Maple Springs, Missouri is suffering through a month-long drought. Dancer Stonemason, a long-forgotten hometown hero still grieving over the death of his oldest son, is moving into town to live with his more dependable younger son. He hires Wayne Mesirow, an Iraq war veteran, to help him liquidate his late son's business.
The heat wave breaks and the skies darken. Dancer tries to settle an old score while Wyne discovers the true cost of his wife's indifference and turns his thoughts to revenge. When the tornado hits Maple Springs, only one of the men will make it out alive.
"Everyone Dies Famous" is a story from the heartland about the uncommon lives of everyday people - the choices they make, how they live their lives, and how they die.
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