Bio

BB62—The USS New Jersey

Jon was born in Saginaw, Michigan, joined the Navy when he was nineteen, and served about the USS New Jersey during the Korean War. He left the Navy at age twenty-three, and graduated from St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa, with a BA in English at age twenty-six in 1959. He earned a BA degree in three years by attending every session the college offered, summer school included. By the time he graduated, he also had a wife (Mary Colette Shannon) and two children (Jane and Joe) and needed a job. He started teaching in Orion, Illinois. He estimates that during his teaching career he taught over 11,000 young adults in his classrooms. This is not to mention the others he met casually in the school building's cafeteria, library, gym, and halls, or in the parking lot and at sporting events. He is now an eighty-four-year-old grandfather and great grandfather writing books for teens. At his age, perhaps he should be writing books like The Five People You Meet in Heaven. But he's not. He's writing books for teens and having fun doing it.

Bio Facts

Born Saginaw, Michigan, 1933; graduated from St. Mary's Cathedral High, 1951.

Served in the U.S. Navy, 1951-1955; Korean War Veteran aboard the battleship USS New Jersey.

Married to Mary Colette Shannon, 1956: six children, thirteen grandchildren, four great grandchildren.

Retired English teacher, 1994; taught high school English for 35 years.

* * * *

BA Degree, English, St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa, 1959.

Participant in the University of Iowa's Writing Workshop, 1960.

Part-time sports reporter, Morning Democrat newspaper, 1960s.

MA Degree, Regional Studies, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, 1972.

Published over 50 short stories in men's magazines 1960s-1980s.

Completed the Writer's Digest Beginning and Advanced Novel Writing Workshops, 1992-1993.

Published three short stories in the Liguorian, a leading Catholic magazine, 1990s.

Published Triangle, Harcourt Brace, 1994.

Published How I Fell in Love & Learned to Shoot Free Throws, Roaring Brook Press, 2003.

Published Derailed, Llewellyn World Wide, 2006.

Published Last Kiss, Llewellyn World Wide, 2007.

Published The Hustle, Ampichellis Ebooks, 2010.


Published Missing Pieces, Ampichellis Books, 2011

Published Who is Lori Darling, Ampichellis Books, 2013

Published The Weight of Guilt, Red Adept Publishing, 2015

Published A Frayed Web, Red Adept Publishing, 2016

Published Desperate, Evernight Teen, 2017

Published 17 shorts stories in Woman's World, a leading woman's magazine. 2004-???? (Still counting)

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