John Coyne (writer)

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John Coyne
Born1937 (age 85–86)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation Writer

John Coyne (born 1937) is an American writer. [1] He is the author of more than 25 nonfiction and fiction books, including a number of horror novels, and his short stories have been collected in "best of" anthologies such as Modern Masters of Horror and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror . A former Peace Corps volunteer and a lifelong lover of golf, he has edited and written books dealing with both subjects, including The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan, The Caddie Who Played With Hickory, and The Caddie Who Won the Masters. His most recent book is the love story Long Ago and Far Away.

Contents

Life

Coyne was born in Chicago, Illinois. At age ten he began working as a caddie at Midlothian Country Club. Both his parents were from the west of Ireland; his father was from a remote area, and had spoken only the Irish language until he was about twelve. As a result, Coyne grew up with bedtime stories of Ireland, on which he would later draw for his Dungeons & Dragons -influenced novel Hobgoblin . [2]

After graduating from Saint Louis University, he earned a master's in English at Western Michigan University, served in the Air Force, and served in the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964, teaching English at the Commercial School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He currently lives in Pelham Manor, New York, with his wife and son, where he works in communications and edits PeaceCorpsWriters.org. [3] [4]

Writing career

Coyne became one of modern horror fiction's "brand name" writers [5] with the publication of his first novel, The Piercing, in 1979. He followed this with a number of other horror novels, including bestsellers such as The Legacy and Hobgoblin, before cutting back on genre writing in the mid-1980s. [6] His short stories have been collected in a number of "best of" anthologies, including Modern Masters of Horror and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror . [7]

The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan, was published in 2006 and is a literary exploration of golf and everyday life. [8] Norman Rush praised the novel, saying, "John Coyne has managed to employ golf as a lens through which aspects of Midwestern daily life in the 1940s, of thwarted love, of social class, are revealed with stark and unsettling clarity." [9]

Coyne is the author of two other golf novels: The Caddie Who Played With Hickory, which is set in 1946 at the Midlothian Country Club, and The Caddie Who Won the Masters, set at Augusta National. His most recent novel is Long Ago and Far Away, a love story spanning forty years.

Bibliography

Novels

Selected short stories

Anthologies

Selected Nonfiction

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References

  1. ↑ Schweitzer, Darrell (1985). Discovering Modern Horror Fiction I. Borgo Press. pp. 106–119. ISBN   1587150107.
  2. ↑ Staggs, Matt. "Book Giveaway and Interview with Hobgoblin Author John Coyne" Unbound Worlds December 16, 2015
  3. ↑ About Us page, Peace Corps Writers, accessed Nov. 25, 2007.
  4. ↑ Cohen, Leslie (Apr 21, 2000). "Peace Corps short stories". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  5. ↑ The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural by Jack Sullivan, Viking, 1986, page 468.
  6. ↑ Faces of Fear: Encounters with the Creators of Modern Horror by Douglas E. Winter, Berkley Books, 1985, page 150.
  7. ↑ D'Ammassa, Don (2006). Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction. Checkmark Books. p. 70. ISBN   1438109091.
  8. ↑ Myers, Alex (Apr 23, 2006). "John Coyne: Author". The Journal News. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  9. ↑ The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan: A Novel, by John Coyne, at Google Books
  10. ↑ "Review: The Piercing". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Review: The Searing". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Review: Hobgoblin". Daily News. Mar 5, 1982. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Review: Hobgoblin". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "Brothers & Sisters". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Review: The Hunting Season". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  16. ↑ "At the Library". Daily Times. Feb 1, 1990. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Review: Fury". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  18. ↑ "Review: Child of Shadows". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  19. ↑ "Golf inspires Pelham writer to return to career in novels". The Journal News. Feb 12, 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  20. ↑ "Review: THE CADDIE WHO KNEW BEN HOGAN". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  21. ↑ "Fiction review: The Caddie Who Played with Hickory". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
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